There is a lot of excitement about all the talented people and the new work they are doing in the theatre community of Bengaluru. The play stage has been drastically changed by many troupes, individual artists and performance spaces. In fact, it could be said that while professional theatre is increasing in popularity there is an equal amount of amateur theatre happening in Bengaluru but for this to continue it needs regular workshops and short training sessions.
In time with Ranga Shankara, J.P Nagar will be 20 years old this year and has scheduled a twenty-day long theater workshop from artists coming from across the city on all aspects of production. These sessions, which are curated by S. Surendranath who himself is a theater maker as well as one of the trustees at Ranga Shankara (and held by masters in their fields), will help young artists hone their craft so they can become part of a bigger artistic family, learn from established professionals and let them pass down invaluable knowledge and experience.
Interviewing Arundhati Nag founder and managing trustee says that during these workshops senior artistes will come to teach things that young kids cannot otherwise learn directly from “At Ranga Shankara Surendranath and I wanted to fast track the experience for our community that uses our theatre.As we entered our twentieth year we decided to have some masterclasses conducted by senior artists which would not have been available usually.”
“Ranga Shankara suggests that this idea; ‘Theatre Prepares’ means they look forward to another twenty years while giving them something more than just being good at acting. All other paths require one to attend NSD Delhi or its Bangalore campus or drama schools like Ninasam, Drama School Mumbai among others wherein only about 20 students get admission each year again it takes almost a year. The next best thing for those who cannot participate in such programs is attending workshops,” she goes on. She further emphasises that there are 110 participants in the workshop and therefore she hopes that at the end of the day people will make connections, form groups, and try to work with each other.
The workshops run from July 10 to July 29; they include direction voice training acting lighting etc. Well known professionals from theatre across the various corners of the globe who include; Maya Krishna Rao, Suresh Shetty, Sooraj Nambiar, Dr. Jamil Ahmed Jonathan Taylor Nachiket Patwardhan Toral Shah Arghya Lahiri Niranjan Gokhale have been invited as resource persons for these workshops so as to enrich Bengaluru’s already existent theatre culture.
Why attend workshops?
When asked why theater practitioners need to frequently participate in workshops Nag argues that artists can only improve their artistic skills through this method “In amateur theater you don’t get thirty performances a month. You don’t get access to different directors or multiple productions or even a variety of genres at once. Therefore periodically attending some training sessions is important for them to up their skill.”
