Mysore/Mysuru: The Mysuru District Amateur Theatre Artistes’ Forum has strongly condemned the steep hike in rentals of Government-run Rangamandiras in Bengaluru.

In a press release, Forum President H.S. Suresh Babu said that the steep hike in rentals of Rangamandiras by the Kannada and Culture Department, is a severe blow to the theatre, which has just started to recover from the COVID pandemic effects.

Observing that theatre activities came to a complete halt following the outbreak of the pandemic two years ago, he said that now with the pandemic subsiding, theatre activities have begun to look up. But the Government’s decision to hike the Rangamandira rentals multiple-fold will be a death blow to the theatre, he said and urged the Government to roll back the hike.

Arguing that Government-run Rangamandiras should act as a catapult for theatre activities and not hinder it, Suresh Babu said that the Government must keep the rentals always within reach. But now, the Government all of a sudden, has doubled the rentals, which has come as a bolt from the blue for the theatre.

Taking note of the plight of  theatre groups and artistes, the Government should roll back the hike in  rentals, he said and warned that the Mysuru District Amateur Theatre Artistes’ Forum would be forced to launch a massive demonstration if the hike is not withdrawn in the interests of the theatre immediately.