Weaving comedy into plays

The annual Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival has arrived and this time with an aim to tickle the funny bone.

Nagu Nagutaa Nadi Nadi - 09 or Laugh all the way home - 09, a festival of comedies, will present an entire baggage of comedy plays and activities.

Showcasing that comedy is more than just making fun of someone’s physical appearance. Sihi Kahi Chandru presented a short skit, which kicked off the inauguration. Though this will be the sixth festival, it will also mark Ranga Shankara completing five years. “We can’t believe five years have just passed. In these five years, we have staged almost 2,000 plays in 19 different languages. This only goes on to prove what a rich theatre tradition we have here,” said Arundhati Nag, creative director of Ranga Shankara.

Curated by well-known playwright and director S Surendranath, the festival will see eight comedies from across India. Plays will be staged in Marathi, Tulu, Hindustani, two brand new productions in Kannada, English and Hindi. There will also be a special Haasya Kavi Sammelanas in Hindi and Kannada. “Like our other festivals, this too will portray variety. We have brought in the best comedy from all over the country and we aim to showcase the various forms of comedy,” said Surendranath.

Along with this for the very first time, Ranga Shankara is conducting an inter-collegiate festival of one-act comedies, to tap fresh talent from across campuses. “A lot of search has gone into this competition. We have chosen nine colleges in the City, which will host the plays in their campuses during the festival and the winner will be honoured at the festival,” adds Surendranath.

The festival will also showcase eight young directors who have been chosen to script and direct short pieces which will be showcased just before the main show every day. 

Held between November 5 and 15, there will be two shows at 2.30 pm and 7.30 pm respectively.
Tickets are priced at Rs 100 for Kannada and Tulu plays and Rs 150 for Hindi and English plays.

The tickets will be available at the venue from October 30.

Log on to www.indianstage.in for details.