50 years of Rangasampada

The year 1972, opened new vistas for modern Kannada theatre — B V Karanth’s three remarkable productions of ‘Oedipus’, ‘Jokumaraswamy’ and ‘Sankranti’ at the open-air auditorium of Ravindra Kalakshetra, now known as Samsa Rangamandira. Karanth then immediately left to Delhi — the national arena. Theatre enthusiasts here felt a leaderless vacuum. As a result two major amateur troupes emerged, namely ‘Nataranga’ and ‘Rangasampada’. 

J Lokesh, former president of Karnataka Nataka Academy and the main driving force of Rangasampada, which is celebrating its golden jubilee recalls, “it is R Nagesh — who I consider my guru, guide and mentor — it was his dream to start a troupe of like-minded theatre activists with commitment and conviction. I, along with M C Anand, Keshava Rao and Harikrishna decided to start Rangasampada (translates to theatre wealth). I am extremely happy that the dream has become a reality and today we are at the golden gate. Though many of the founders are old now — the reason the theatre group was a little sluggish in between — but the youngsters are more enthusiastic now and carry forward the flag of Rangasampada with new zeal.”

The first play by Jnanpith award-winning playwright Girish Karnad, ‘Yayaati’, was incidentally the first play of Rangasampada too. The theatre group has had over 50 productions, thousands of repeat shows, theatre festivals and exhibitions. They have also been a part of protests not only related to theatre issues but also social issues like the Gokak movement and the Emergency in 1975. The group was committed to the artform of theatre, rather than just offering entertainment. Over the years, they have given opportunities to new directors to showcase their creativity with new concepts and techniques in stage productions. 

Rangasampada hosted a play-writing competition in the 80s. It was a unique exercise for procuring original Kannada plays. Many playwrights like Hooli Sekhar, Gopal Vajpayee, Nisargapriya, apart from CGK’s adaptation of Devanur Mahadev’s ‘Odalaala’ and T N Seetharam’s hit play ‘Aasphota’ emerged from the competition. 

Veteran director Prasanna was a second-year student of NSD when he directed G B Joshi’s  ‘Kadadida Neeru’. Theatre doyen, B V Karanth has also directed a play for Rangasampada. He also acted in ‘Ranga-Bheeshma Sriranga’, a rare and memorable event. Renowned progressive playwright and street-theatre wizard Badal Sircar’s ‘Evam Indrajit’, and Mohan Rakesh’s ‘Aadhe Adhoore’ (Kannada translation by Siddalinga Pattanashetty) and B M Sha’s ‘Trishanku’, both directed by R Nagesh, perturbed the Kannada audience and left an everlasting impact.

Shriranga-Sampada

Sriranga who is considered one of the pioneers of modern Kannada theatre had a long association with Rangasampada. Productions like ‘Ranga Bhaarata’, ‘Kattale Belaku’, ‘Samagra manthana’, are acclaimed by critics and audience. The association went on to be called Sriranga-Sampada. 

CGK magic

C G Krishnaswamy, an active ‘samudaya’ member rose to fame with street plays ‘Belchi’ and ‘Patre Sangappana Kole’. Rangasampada gave him an opportunity to stage proscenium plays. CGK further flourished with firm feet and his magnum-opus production ‘Odalaala’ was a huge-hit. He then directed ‘Neegikonda Samsa’, based on the life and works of thespian playwright Samsa (by professor Ki Ram Nagaraj). CGK also encouraged H S Shivaprakash to produce powerful plays like ‘Mahachaitra’, which used Veeragase and Kamsale forms amid controversies. 

Along with realistic plays, Rangasampada also produced folk plays like ‘Sangya-Balya’ and ‘Saakshi Kallu’ which were successful.

The theatre group’s prominent actors include Keshava Rao, Harikrishna, Vijaya Kaashi, Nagesh Kashyap, B S Ramamurthy, Mico Chandru, Nagabharana, Venkatesh Moorthy, Gangaadhar, Gundu Rao, Naagini Bharana, Vyjayanti Kaashi, and Umashree — who stole the show with the role Saakavva in ‘Odalaala’.  

Tagore’s play at Ravindra Kalakshetra

Satyajit Ray’s classic, ‘Ghare Bhaire’, is based on Rabindranath Tagore’s novel by the same name, published in 1919 and translated to English in 1921. A discussion with filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli prompted B Suresh to adapt it to stage. After several readings of the English version of the novel, Suresh has ably brought it into Kannada as ‘Lokada Ola-horage’. The young team of Rangasampada with the support of experienced theatre artistes has successfully brought it to stage at Kalagrama and Rangashankara auditoriums and is all set for the repeat show on October 6 at Ravindra Kalakshetra.