BENGALURU: With an aim to bring a slice of theatre to your screens, Ranga Shankara has started its live play reading session, Maneyinda Manege. The first session, held on Thursday, witnessed the reading of scenes from Girish Karnad’s Tale Danda in Kannada. The readings are scheduled to take place every Thursday until the lockdown is lifted and theatre gets resumed as before. The upcoming session this week will feature a live recital of Karnad’s Tale Danda in Hindi.
Speaking about the idea behind the initiative, artistic director Surendranath S states that being away from theatre due to the ongoing lockdown was a driving factor. “While we are supposed to be sitting idle and isolated, I was missing the whole action of theatre and wondered how long I would read to myself. This brought about the idea of having a small reading session online with a monologue.
In order to enhance the experience, we started a play reading session,” he says, adding that digital play reading is difficult since one is dependent on network connectivity and gadgets. “So the actor’s basic requirement is not how they read but rather a good network connectivity and a gadget which is compatible with the online platform,” chuckles Surendranath.
Drawing comparisons with a radio play, this week’s recital comprises actors from Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru -- Kumud Mishra, Ghanshyam Lalsa, Namrata Varshney, Avneesh Mishra, Sandeep Shikhar, Saurabh Nayyar and Shubhrojyoti Roy. The adaptation in Hindi will focus on the playwright and his thought process, says Shikhar. “The two versions are slightly different from each other.
I am the narrator and will be adding Girish Karnad’s own thoughts behind the play and people’s perception towards it. It’s a rehearsed reading where we look towards the writer’s thought, why he wrote this play, the context and more importantly why it is relevant to the current times,” adds Shikhar.Maneyinda Manege will be showcased every Thursday at 7:30pm on Ranga Shankara’s YouTube channel and Zoom (links will be posted on social media)