Mysuru: A five-day Ranga Bhishma B.V. Karanth Memorial National-level Workshop on ‘Ranga Sangeetha – Dhwani Vinyasa’ (Theatre music and voice modulation) — titled ‘Solisabeda… Gellisaiah…’ — organised by Rangayana, Mysuru and KSGH Music and Performing Arts University, Mysuru, was inaugurated by Jnanpith Awardee Nadoja Dr. Chandrashekar Kambara at Bhoomigeeta in Rangayana premises last evening.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Kambara said that the theatre repertory which is the brainchild of Karanth was started 28 years ago and it has grown and scaled heights ever since. “In 1970, there was a need to revolutionise Kannada theatre. Karanth came all the way from Delhi and directed plays ‘Jokumaraswami’, ‘Sankranti’ and ‘Oedipus’ (Greek play). The then Chairman of Karnataka Nataka Academy did not allow us to stage play in Ravindra Kalakshetra in Bengaluru. We had to stage the play in the backyard of the theatre. Within a week, ‘Jokumaraswami’ was a huge success. The play and direction of Karanth gained prominence,” Dr. Kambara said.
A section of the audience including former Rangayana Director H. Janardhan and Natana Founder Mandya Ramesh.
Music University VC Dr. Sarvamangala Shankar, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said that theatre is the greatest form of art as music, expressions and speech are involved in a single art form.
Over 130 students from Dharwad, National School of Drama (Bengaluru), the Music University and Rangayana are taking part in the workshop.
Kannada and Culture Joint Director V.N. Mallikarjunaswamy, Rangayana Director Bhagirathi Bai Kadam, theatre artiste Mime Ramesh and music composer Shrinivas Bhat were present on the occasion.
This post was published on September 6, 2017 6:41 pm