An amateur theatre troupe attached to Rangayana will come up with another treat for theatre enthusiasts, with five plays scheduled to be staged from April 7 to 11.

GPIER (Gesture-Posture-Imagination-Expression-Rhythm) theatre troupe is staging the plays, with about 80 artistes busy in their preparations for the festival.

While two of the plays staged will be based on plays and short stories written in Kannada, the theatre troupe has looked for inspiration from noted Japanese film maker Akira Kurosawa and Nobel prize winning Italian playwright, Dario Fo.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Mime Ramesh, director of GPIER said that a play ‘Basthi’, which is being staged on April 7, on the first day of the five day festival, is based on the famous film of Kurosawa, Rashomon, released in the year 1950. “The movie which is a master piece revolves around the accounts of different persons on a single incident, and has been described as a classic. ‘Basthi’ being inspired from it, is an allegory, with extensive use of symbolic elements,” he said.

Among other interesting plays to be staged at the festival is ‘Girija Kalyana’. The play is being directed by filmmaker, B Suresh. The play derives from the life of Shaiva saint and poet, Akkamahadevi, and the contemporary condition of women in society, he said.

One of the famous plays of Dario Fo will also be presented during the festival. The play titled ‘Samsaradalli Sanidapa’ revolves around the differences in a family.

The other two plays are ‘Thank You, Mr Glad’ and ‘Buguri’. While the first is based on a Marathi play by Anil Bharve, the second is based on a short story by Muggalli Ganesh.

Ramesh said that the amateur theatre group has been in existence for the past two decades and had trained more than a thousand youth in theatre, during the period.

“We have also staged 60-80 shows, where in which several young artists were given opportunity. Similar opportunity is being given this time too,” he said.