Bangalore and the shakespherian connection

Malgudi series-6

As the great playright of all times once said " The whole world is a theatre and the people in it - actors" we bangaloreans have a lot to owe to shakesphere, he has in all leaps and bounds inspired artists, Playrights, directors, sound designers, stage designers, theatre enthusiasts of all times and still continue to do so !

Much before it was called as IT city , bangalore was known for its rich cultural ambience. Though most of the activities were restricted by its reach to the locals , they were quite famous across the state and people would follow not because it is happening in the capital city but because of its uniqueness ! Be it the Bangalore karagha of dharmaraya temple which is considered as one of the oldest festivals celebrated in the city having historical significance or Kadalekaayi parishe , the annual groundnut festival held near dodda ganesha temple basavanagudi , it stands out !

The another unique part of bangalore's cultural heritage is its vibrant theatre. Though from more than a century there were theatre troops which were performing here, they were more of depended on it for their livelihood and hence were limited in trying new things, experimenting etc.

It was in the early 60's that the real theatre buzz started in bangalore with many people who were employed in decent 9 to 5 jobs felt a need to do something more than just work ! This was just complimented by the young writers of post independence era by apt plays which were not mundane in their concepts and had lot of intellectual food to offer ! Most of this plays were in kannada, the language of the land and some of them were later translated to Hindi etc. and was taken across the country by the likes of National school of drama ( NSD ) which brought a great reputation to bangalore, its playright, actors and directors leading to a culture of vibrant theatre eventually.

Those days  though most of the theatre was restricted to few places  under the patronage of governement, like Ravindra kalakshetra, Samsa open auditiorum, Puttannachetti purabhavana, ADA ranga mandira, theatre did prosper and lately the situation is more than good with dedicated private theatres like Rangashankara in JP Nagar, Jagrithi in Whitefield which are dedicated to only plays all through the year !

To make theatre sustainable the tickets are kept at a meagre 100 bucks and the quality is top notch ! Many citizens of bangalore have generously contributed to building these theatres and kept it alive which  otherwise would have lost its charm to the glooming night life, shining malls and multiplexes !
Like in some cities of europe watching plays in a theatre is a great fascination for bengalurians, for some it is a status symbol and for some its a great learning oppurtunity ! slowly it is also becoming equally entertaining and starting to gather more and more young audience which is great for the sustenance of the theatre ecosystem and hence one of its famous theatres " Rangashankara" goes with the tag line THEATRE ALIVE !