How theatre troupes came to thrive in Shivamogga Premium

Soon after the show, the artistes engaged in an interaction with the audience. The responses from the theatre lovers were varied. While a few appreciated the acting and presentation of the plot, many raised serious objections to the content of the play, written in 1983. It was a very eager, academic and lively debate with multiple voices coming in.

Well-known Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar’s play Kanyadaan was staged at DVS Ranga Mandira in Shivamogga on October 14 and 15, 2023. Both days the hall was packed. The artistes of Sahyadri Ranga Taranga won the hearts of theatre lovers with their performance.

Soon after the show, the artistes engaged in an interaction with the audience. The responses from the theatre lovers were varied. While a few appreciated the acting and presentation of the plot, many raised serious objections to the content of the play, written in 1983. It was a very eager, academic and lively debate with multiple voices coming in.

Dr. H.S. Nagabhushan, who translated the play into Kannada and played the lead role, and R.S. Halaswamy, the director, listened to the opinions expressed by the audience with an open mind. “This is the beauty of staging a play for an audience in Shivamogga. The audience is frank in their opinions,” says Halaswamy, a journalist and a theatre personality.

The audience also expects discipline from the teams when it comes to managing the time. Dr. Sasvehalli Sathish, a well known director, actor, and founder of the of the Hongirana team, recalled in a programme in Shivamogga recently how senior people among the audience raised objections when one of his plays was delayed by 20 minutes.

Shivamogga is one of the district centres in Karnataka where many amateur theatre troupes have been active for decades. According to the association of theatre artists of amateur troupes, Havyasi Rangatandagala Kalavidara Sangha, there are 32 amateur theatre groups in the city. They have come under one banner to take forward the movement of amateur theatre under the cooperative model. The Sangha has worked out a model to organize activities and hold theatre festivals occasionally.

The amateur theatre in Shivamogga has a long history. The emergence of amateur groups has its roots in the theatre productions of popular companies, which camped in Shivamogga for several months a year. The senior citizens of the city recall the plays staged by companies belonging to Gubbi Veeranna, Honnappa Bhagavatar, Master Hirannayya, Varadachar, Mohammed Peer, Yoganarasimha and many more. The actors who visited the city for performances included Raj Kumar, Balakrishna, Narasimharaju, G.V. Iyer among others, who later ruled the silver screen. The plays they staged were based on mythological stories.

In the 1950s, a few writers, lecturers, doctors, and businessmen who were familiar with modern plays and literature joined hands to form the United Artists. This is considered to be the first amateur troupe in Shivamogga City. The team involved teachers, businessmen, advocates, and doctors. They include Khandoba Rao, a lecturer, Hiriyanna, a businessman, Dr. Ashok Pai, a noted psychiatrist, and H.M. Prabhakar, who was an excellent make-up artist.