'Parva' play staged in Mangaluru

The theatre adaptation of ‘Parva’, the magnum opus of novelist S L Bhyrappa, regaled the theatre buffs of Mangaluru, at Kudmul Ranga Rao Town Hall on Tuesday.

Mysuru-Rangayana artistes staged the play for eight hours with intervals.

The magnum opus Parva is a retelling of the epic Mahabharata. Noted theatre personality Prakash Belawadi had adapted Parva, a 696-page voluminous novel, to the theatre.

Speaking on the occasion, Rangayana Director Addanda Cariappa said that it was a challenge to bring the work on stage after 43 years of its publication.

As many as 35 artistes have practised for six months before its first performance. The government also provided assistance for the same, he said.

Cariappa lamented that the culturally rich Mangaluru does not have a ranga mandira. There is a need for ranga mandira.

Senior writer Na Damodar Shetty said that Rangayana in the past had staged ‘Malegalalli Madumagalu’.