Rich in resources, creativity and talent, but hit hard by the Covid crisis, Rangayana, which depends on people’s participation as audience, has come up with a novel initiative to reach out to school students, on a concept that is also relevant. Primary and Secondary Education Minister S Suresh Kumar has agreed to extend his support to the initiative.
Addanda C Cariappa, Director of Rangayana, said, “We have talented artistes and technicians, but due to the lockdown and subsequent guidelines, in view of checking the spread of Covid-19, we could not stage any play since March. Last week, we successfully staged ‘Kusumabaale’ of Devanuru Mahadeva as a ‘Vachabhinaya’ experiment. This is an innovative form of theatre, where there are all ingredients, except movement and interaction of artistes, in view of following the Covid guidelines.”
Cariappa said, “Following the ‘Vachabhinaya’ of ‘Kusumabaale’, we thought of adopting ‘Bommanahalliya Kindarijogi’, the famous children’s poem by Kuvempu, top the new format. It is relevant now, as rats in the poem, a Kannada adaptation of ‘Pied Piper of Hamelin’, is a symbol of an enemy of humanity, trying to snatch away all available food items, leading to starvation. Coronavirus is a world pandemic, threatening humanity”.
“Kuvempu penned ‘Bommanahalliya Kindarijogi’ as a teenager in 1923. It was adopted to theatre by Rangayana with B V Karanth as director. It was first staged in April, 1989. Kindarijogi is a symbol of God or saviour. At present, doctors, healthcare professionals and government officials are our saviours, as Covid warriors. The theme is, we should trust and regard our saviours. In the story, after getting the favour, people betray Kindarijogi. So, they face the consequences,” Cariappa said.
He said, the ‘Vachabhinaya’ of ‘Bommanahalliya Kindarijogi’ is a re-creation of the production of the late B V Karanth, sans movement on the stage and interaction between artistes.
“All actors will be seated in the setting, around the musicians, as music is given more stress, in this experiment. Otherwise, musicians will be usually in a pit or in the background. The play will be released in two parts of 30 minutes each. Schools can get the soft copy of the video production, both episodes, from Rangayana,” he said.
Cariappa said that he recently met Education Minister Suresh Kumar and submitted a memorandum, briefing about the initiative. “The minister endorsed our initiative and extended support to reach the production to all schoolchildren. The video will be available on the website of Rangayana http://www.rangayana.org and also on YouTube and the Facebook of Rangayana. Even downloadable format will be available for those from places where internet network is weak,” he said.