Writer, director and actor Prakash Belawadi hails from the ‘Green Room’ family – whose members across three generations are closely involved in several aspects of theatre, TV and film-writing, acting, directing, lighting, make-up and production. The family home is called Green Room in a fond reference to paterfamilias BN Narayan’s (Make-up Nani) expertise in applying make-up. Belawadi says, “Kannada theatre thrives, not with uniform success but unflagging vitality. It is in reality ‘Karnataka Theatre’ and a ready host to the theatre of many tongues. Kannada theatre owes its open and generous spirit to its cosmopolitan origins. Theatre is articulated by enthusiastic young groups who have dared to write original works and put them on stage. The Kannada sensibility needs expression on stage, like fresh air and sunlight. It will always thrive.” Prakash Belawadi
Actor Arundhati Nag (above), at Ranga Shankara, a theatre built in memory of her husband, the beloved actor Shankar Nag. Contemporary Kannada plays are performed here and also at venues such as HN Kala Soudha, ADA Rangamandira and Ravindra Kalakshetra.
The theatre group Prabhat Kalavidaru, started in 1930, is a family-run theatre group famous for its ballets, and has over the years nurtured actors who have become stars in the Kannada theatre, TV and film circuit.
the beginning of theatre training and a travelling repertory that continues to make an impact.
CG Krishnaswamy, BV Rajaram, C Ashwath and HS Shivaprakash. English theatre
Three plays staged in Bangalore in the 1970s set into motion a second renaissance of sorts: P Lankesh’s Sankranti, a translated production of Oedipus, and Chandrashekhara Kambara’s Jokumara Swamy. Produced by Pratima, a group of young theatre activists and directed by BV Karanth, the cast included Girish Karnad and B Jayashree. The plays created stars in Kannada theatre who went on to achieve national and international recognition. It triggered a period of intense productivity in theatre, and brought to centrestage writers, directors and artistes who have influenced Kannada theatre aesthetics such as Jadabharata (GB Joshi), CR Simha, C Loknath, Lokesh, R Nagesh, Prasanna,
English language theatre was originally for ‘Whites only’ and dominated by the Bangalore Amateur Dramatics Society. In 1969, Bangalore Little Theatre came up as a secular group and since then there have been a number of local theatre groups that keep fanning the flames. Artistes’ Repertory Theatre (ART) was established by the popular thespian couple Arundhati and Jagdish Raja in 1982. The couple has built Jagriti, a thriving performance space with state-of-the-art facilities in Whitefield. New genres of theatre like stand-up comedies and short plays have captured the imagination of theatre-goers in alternative performance spaces like lounges.
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