The appointment of B Jayashree, grand daughter of Kannada theatre legend Gubbi Veeranna and daughter of renowned singer and actor B Malatamma, has raked a lot of curiosity in the theatre circles, where people see her more as a performer than administrator. Rangayana, the state managed theatre repertory has been swamped in problems ever since its inception by B V Karanth, way back in 1989.
It went without a director for about 17 months after Chidambara Rao Jambe completed his term and left in January 2008.
In her first interaction with the media as Rangayana Director on Wednesday, Jayashree said, “Though I trained under B V Karanth among others, I can call myself his ‘student’; I am scared of sitting on this chair. Right from Karanth, who is a big name in Indian theatre, persons who have assumed this role so far were highly creative and gifted personalities. It is an overwhelming feeling to be here,” she said. Incharge Director for Rangayana K T Chikkanna, Deputy Director Tara Saraswati were present on the occasion.