If you are in Mysore,
or closely following the developments of Mysore,
it is hard to miss the issue
of theatre repertory Rangayana. It pains to see that the organization which
should be concentrating on the production of plays is now embroiled in
bureaucratic problems.
Rangayana is a state government funded theatre
repertory started under the initiative of B.V. Karanth almost 25 years ago.
Most of their initial years were spent for the sake of training. Public shows
started only after few years of training. It has taken lot of effort, mainly by
Karanth and later on by others, to build the team.
It was when Prasanna became the director that
Rangayana started the practice of weekend shows. And that practice is in
place till date. If you visit Rangayana on a Sunday, you can be rest assured of
a play being performed at six thirty pm (usually by Rangayana or by other teams
when they are on a tour).
Being in Mysore,
we get to watch other amateur team’s productions too. And as part of theatre
festivals like Bahuroopi (organised by Rangayana) we get to watch performances
by some of the most renowned theatre groups across the country. But having
watched the productions of Rangayana, it is difficult to be easily impressed by
any other performance. That is the standard which Rangayana has created and we
Mysoreans are lucky to have such a repertory here. After watching so many plays
and shows of Rangayana repertory, unknown to them, we audience, have developed
a kind of rapport with the actors and the team.
But now, the government, on the idiotic advice of
Ranga Samaja, wants to split the team and transfer the artists, whom we have
watched all these years as part of Rangayana. The issue
of transfer started during the short tenure of controversial director of
Rangayana, B.Jayashree. But fortunately for Rangayana and also for Mysore, her tenure
did not last long and after her departure from here, the issue was buried,
though temporarily. That was during year 2009-10.
Now with the establishment of two more Rangayanas,
one at Dharwad and another at Shimoga, Government
wants to use the services of the experienced actors here. The transfer of
12 actors of Rangayana to the other two branches is with the idea of
facilitating the newly established Rangayanas to get proper training.
This is a very
foolish step from the governing body, supported by the Government. It is
very difficult to believe that the governing body is acting without any mala
fide intention, but even if one gives them the benefit of doubt, one fails to
see the logic behind this act.
Ranga
Samaja is being lazy in not trying to search for new actors and instead
trying to depute the actors here at Rangayana as trainers at the new branches.
These people are trained to be actors and not trainers. Moreover, the team
which has been producing plays since 25 years would have developed a comfort
zone with each other and it reflects in their plays too.
We Mysoreans are used to watching the plays of the
same team since so many years and now, all of a sudden, if 12 actors of the
team are sent
away, who will act in the productions of Rangayana? Not to be disrespectful
to the others, but the 12 actors who are transferred are among the best actors
of the team, at least for me, personally.
If they are not part of the team, there is no way I
or many other regular Rangayana audiences would watch the plays. It also means
that the repeat shows of the old productions, of which, these 12 actors are
part of would not be performed or would be performed by the new actors who are
not as experienced as the present team. There is no way the quality of the
productions will remain the same. The highest standards of acting which we have
come to expect from Rangayana would be lost forever.
Ranga Samaja and also, the government, have to
remember that Rangayana Mysore was started with 25 fresh faces. It is difficult
to guess as to what is stopping them from doing the same at other two newly
established Rangayanas.
The actors are now fighting for cancellation of the
transfer order and exploring many ways to solve this problem. And the director
of Rangayana, B V Rajaram, who also supported the actors in their protest
against the transfer order, was
immediately sacked. Curiously, the director was not taken into confidence
before the transfer orders were issued to the actors. The incident only shows
the dictatorial attitude of government towards one of the most prominent
cultural institutions of Karnataka.
This is something the actors of Rangayana should
have realised long back, but at least now, hopefully, after this issue gets
solved, they should realise that the more quicker they come out of the clutches
of Ranga Samaja and the bureaucracy, the better it is. We audience do not know
who are the members of the governing body and how are they elected and for how
long they remain elected. But we are now aware that such a thing exists and we
want the old Rangayana back, free of it's clutches from the unknown and faceless
Ranga Samaja and the non empathetic bureaucracy.