'Parva' in Mangaluru on May 10

Rangayana-Mysuru repertory will stage its magnum opus ‘Parva’ play, at Kudmul Ranga Rao Town Hall in Mangaluru at 10.30 am on May 10.

The play based on writer S L Bhyrappa’s novel is of eight-hour duration, with four breaks of 30 minutes for lunch and 10 minutes tea break thrice, informed Rangayana Director Addanda C Cariappa.

The preparations for ‘Parva’ started during the Covid lockdown in 2020, when the activities of Rangayana, movement of artistes, activities of the National School of Drama and other theatre activities were restricted. The inaugural shows were held at Mysuru in March 2021.

“The state government had released financial assistance of Rs 50 lakh for our magnum opus work on the play. Around 35 selected artistes who are part of the play are given a monthly honorarium for the last one year,” he said.

The entry ticket is priced at Rs 200, he said and added, “We have collected around Rs 18 lakh through the entry ticket so far. It is the 32nd show in Mangaluru. The first leg of the tour of the troupe of Rangayana will conclude at Kalaburgi. It will be held at Belagavi on April 16 and 17, and also at Vijayapura and Kalaburgi. The second leg of the tour will start from Hassan on April 30.

It will be staged in Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Shivamogga, Chitradurga, Tumakuru and Bengaluru.

Shows outside Karnataka

Stating that the Rangayana-Mysuru, a government-sponsored repertory will hold the shows outside Karnataka in the month of June, Addanda C Cariappa said the shows will be held in Nagpur, Mumbai, Bhopal, Chitradurga and Delhi.

“We will display subtitles in English while staging the show outside the state. Our target is to stage 50 shows of Parva,” he said.

He said the play has been produced with a lot of effort by director Prakash Belavadi, artistes and technicians. It is not an easy task to hold the audience for eight hours at a stretch.

The tickets will be available at the Department of Kannada and Culture, office of Karnataka Beary Sahitya Academy, Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy and Konkani Sahithya Academy. In addition, shows can also be booked online by visiting www.rangayana.org