Watch a rehearsed reading of murder mystery ‘Three Candles for the Dead’ on July 26

The reading is being presented under Bangalore Little Theatre’s New Voices programme

This Sunday, watch a murder mystery as the cast of Three Candles for the Dead will perform a rehearsed reading of the play with the aim of raising funds for Surabhi Theatre and Still Space Theatre.

Presented as part of Bangalore Little Theatre’s New Voices programme, the play has been written by Sharon Puthur. It is her first play and was shortlisted for The Hindu’s Metroplus Playwright Award 2014.

In it, Sameer Varma, Assistant Commissioner of Police, has eight suspects, including a vengeful spirit, for a murder that takes place at a séance.

While it has been directed by Shubham Srivastava with support from Murtuza Khetty, the cast includes Vinay Kambappa, Nipun Bhat, Madhav Mohan, Sarena Beriwala and Jolly Singh.

Says Shubham, “We had planned a staged production but with the current situation we aren’t able to do that. We have been rehearsing for the past two months rigorously but everything has been on Zoom. So, on Sunday, the actors will be on Zoom and will be performing as if on stage but it will be in front of a laptop.”

He adds that it has been difficult to get costumes but the actors will use what they have at hand for costumes and props.

As for the challenges of directing a play over the internet, Shubham says, “It has been interesting. Of course, theatre demands that people interact physically but because of technology and the tools that we have it’s not an everything or nothing situation. I have been facing difficulties in trying to set the flow or mood for the actors to get into character and perform but they have also done a great job.”

On how they decided to use the reading for a cause, Shubham says, “A lot of theatre groups are dependent on this business but have no source of income now. So, we thought of contacting a couple of them. One is Surabhi Theatre group from Hyderabad and another one is Still Space Theatre. Both of them are doing a great job of trying to help theatre practitioners who are directly dependent on this business for their survival.” He adds that there is no charge to view the reading but, “we urge people to donate”.

Visit Bangalore Little Theatre’s YouTube channel to watch the rehearsed reading at 5 pm.