BENGALURU: Three short stories by Kannada fiction writer and poet Janaki Srinivasa Murthy, popularly known by her pen name Vaidehi, are being adapated to a theatre performance directed by Champa Shetty.
The play is in Kundapura Kannada. “ Vaidehi requested the act to be in the language as the story is set in that region,” says Champa. Akku, Puttamattey Mattu Mommagalu and Amachi Emba Nenapu are the three short stories by the Kannada litterateur that have been weaved into a stage performance.
“It shows the three stages in a woman’s life,” says Champa. The three central characters include Amachi, who is 17-years-old, Akku, 35 and Putthamma, 70. Akku is a middle-aged mentally challenged woman. Amachi is Putthama's grand daughter, the two stay in Akku's house. “The story dwells around their relationships and aspirations,” says the director, adding that the act centres around women's choices and how society perceives the gender in its different phase of life.
“Akku's story shows the relationship dynamic a mentally challenged person shares with their family. Through Putthamma's character, we learn how people view widows,” explains Champa.
Amachi is intelligent and a dreamer, says the director. “She is creative, but the society has different expectations from her. Amachi's story is about how society's views on how she should lead her life, ruins her dream and aspirations,” adds Champa.
Based on Vaidehi's request of performing the act in Kundapura Kannada, most actors took to learning the dialect. “Only four to five of them knew already,” she says. Actors from the age of 10 to 50 are part of the play. The act includes 24 artists on stage and extends for a duration of one hour and 30 minutes. Before this, Champa did a play on Gandhi, which was an adapation.
“I read about Akku in a newspaper article and got curious, but since I couldn't base an act out of one story, I weaved two more of Vaidehi's story in,” says Champa. Akku is just three-page long. “The character does not have an elaborate story, but it portrayed just as an incident,” she adds. The play will be staged at Shankaraa foundation, as part of Soma — The Festival Of Arts, on October 2, 7pm.