Rangashankara: An experience to behold
This is a memoir of my visit to Rangashankara Theatre on February 26th of 2025 on the occasion of Mahashivaratri. Few weeks before, I had randomly scrolled through the bookmyshow website scouting for any WPL tickets available when my eyes got caught in a play that was supposed to be performed in Rangashankara two days after my final exams would end.I thought this would be a perfect oppurtunity to take a break from my studies and enjoy a visit to the well known Rangashankara theatre.I was even more intrigued that the play was based on the story Jokumaraswamy writtten by Chandrashekhara Kambara directed by B.V.Karanth. It was the shows 599th performance and was conducted by Benaka groups. Even though I had very little knowledge on plays, I had heard of the name Jokumaraswamy. I remembered that Jokumarswamy was the story that Shankar Nag was working on for his movie just before his unfortunate demise in 1990 due to a car accident. So, I decided to book a ticket for the play Jokumaraswamy and head over to Rangashankara to give it a try. So, I opted to book a ticket for the play and give Rangashankara a shot in my holidays.
On the day of the play, I got ready two hours prior to the show and cycled my way to Rangashankara. I had read online that the rules for punctuality are quite strict in Rangashankara and I knew I needed to be there early. I reached Rangashankara at around 7pm for the 7:30 pm show and the place was already bustling with people. The staff told me to take and offline copy of the ticket from the counter. I also strolled around the small bookstore beside the ticket counter. The queue for entering the hall was very long as I had already seen that this show had been house full today.
I had never been to Rangashankara before, so it was a little overwhelming to see so many people come together to support theatre. Soon, they led us to hall fifteen minutes before the show which was located at the first floor of the building. The hall looked like a dark cozy cottage with its dim lights and compact seating. Soon people started flooding up and I finally got a seat at one of the upper rows in the auditorium. The place was quite high from the altitude of the play stage, but the lighting made it unnoticeable. I noticed that not a single seat was left empty in the auditorium, and everybody were eagerly waiting for the show to start. I heard middle-aged man next to me tell his wife that it was his first time coming here and that he was quite excited for the show. I believe the play kept up to its expectations as I could see a subtle smile in his face throughout the whole play.
"Jokumaraswamy" as a play was very different from the other plays I had ever been to. Most of the plays I had ever been to were regional Tulu plays from my home town where plays are mostly meant to deliver entertainment to its audience in form of comedy and drama. But this story delved more into the essence of the narrative and the beauty of the performance and the art. The plays I had watched earlier usually had prerecorded audios and music that would entertain the folks with its hilarious punchlines. Jokumaraswamy was a perfect combination of humor, drama, music and conflict. It also highlighted societal issues such as patriarchy, ill treatment of slaves by their landlords, greed for money and land and so on. The background score delivered by a troupe of girls in the play singing along with a drum at different occasions of the play impressed me. The theatre was well designed that the artists did not use mikes of any sort as their voice was quite audible throughout the hall. The artists used various entrances from within the audience to emerge onto the stage and created a fun environment for the audience. The story was based on a woman who hasn't had children from ten years after her marriage and is praying to the village god Jokumaraswamy for granting children. The play troupe relatively had several young boys and girls who were extremely talented and had great stage presence and dialogue delivery. Even older members of the crew displayed excellent performances and played their roles to perfection.
Overall, it was a great play and a great performance by the crew. Jokumaraswamy had every bit of comedy, plot and entertainment I was expecting and to be honest, a lot more then I could have imagined back then. This was my first time going to Rangashankara and will definitely not be my last!
This is a memoir of my visit to Rangashankara Theatre on February 26th of 2025 on the occasion of Mahashivaratri. Few weeks before, I had randomly scrolled through the bookmyshow website scouting for any WPL tickets available when my eyes got caught in a play that was supposed to be performed in Rangashankara two days after my final exams would end.I thought this would be a perfect oppurtunity to take a break from my studies and enjoy a visit to the well known Rangashankara theatre.I was even more intrigued that the play was based on the story Jokumaraswamy writtten by Chandrashekhara Kambara directed by B.V.Karanth. It was the shows 599th performance and was conducted by Benaka groups. Even though I had very little knowledge on plays, I had heard of the name Jokumaraswamy. I remembered that Jokumarswamy was the story that Shankar Nag was working on for his movie just before his unfortunate demise in 1990 due to a car accident. So, I decided to book a ticket for the play Jokumaraswamy and head over to Rangashankara to give it a try. So, I opted to book a ticket for the play and give Rangashankara a shot in my holidays.
On the day of the play, I got ready two hours prior to the show and cycled my way to Rangashankara. I had read online that the rules for punctuality are quite strict in Rangashankara and I knew I needed to be there early. I reached Rangashankara at around 7pm for the 7:30 pm show and the place was already bustling with people. The staff told me to take and offline copy of the ticket from the counter. I also strolled around the small bookstore beside the ticket counter. The queue for entering the hall was very long as I had already seen that this show had been house full today.
I had never been to Rangashankara before, so it was a little overwhelming to see so many people come together to support theatre. Soon, they led us to hall fifteen minutes before the show which was located at the first floor of the building. The hall looked like a dark cozy cottage with its dim lights and compact seating. Soon people started flooding up and I finally got a seat at one of the upper rows in the auditorium. The place was quite high from the altitude of the play stage, but the lighting made it unnoticeable. I noticed that not a single seat was left empty in the auditorium, and everybody were eagerly waiting for the show to start. I heard middle-aged man next to me tell his wife that it was his first time coming here and that he was quite excited for the show. I believe the play kept up to its expectations as I could see a subtle smile in his face throughout the whole play.
"Jokumaraswamy" as a play was very different from the other plays I had ever been to. Most of the plays I had ever been to were regional Tulu plays from my home town where plays are mostly meant to deliver entertainment to its audience in form of comedy and drama. But this story delved more into the essence of the narrative and the beauty of the performance and the art. The plays I had watched earlier usually had prerecorded audios and music that would entertain the folks with its hilarious punchlines. Jokumaraswamy was a perfect combination of humor, drama, music and conflict. It also highlighted societal issues such as patriarchy, ill treatment of slaves by their landlords, greed for money and land and so on. The background score delivered by a troupe of girls in the play singing along with a drum at different occasions of the play impressed me. The theatre was well designed that the artists did not use mikes of any sort as their voice was quite audible throughout the hall. The artists used various entrances from within the audience to emerge onto the stage and created a fun environment for the audience. The story was based on a woman who hasn't had children from ten years after her marriage and is praying to the village god Jokumaraswamy for granting children. The play troupe relatively had several young boys and girls who were extremely talented and had great stage presence and dialogue delivery. Even older members of the crew displayed excellent performances and played their roles to perfection.
Overall, it was a great play and a great performance by the crew. Jokumaraswamy had every bit of comedy, plot and entertainment I was expecting and to be honest, a lot more then I could have imagined back then. This was my first time going to Rangashankara and will definitely not be my last!
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