After a five-month gap on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ranga Shankara will restart staging plays from August 15.
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Dhee Mahi’s queer love story ‘Amma Mattu Suhail’ will be the first play to be staged after the reopening. Directed by theatre artist and musician Karthik Hebbar, it revolves around a gay couple and a mother.
Rangaratha’s ‘Malavikagnimitra’, Yuvashree’s ‘Simhachalam Sampige’, and S.N. Sethuram’s ‘Stree’ are some of the other plays in the line-up.
The theatre will reopen with COVID-19 restrictions. Only 50% of the seats will be sold. All shows will begin at 6.30 p.m. and end by 9 p.m., till the night curfew lifts in the city.
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Meanwhile, the second season of Ranga Shankara’s weekend programme ‘RS Connect’ will start on August 6. It will begin with a storytelling session, from 5.15 p.m. to 6.15 p.m., by the Galate Gandharvaru Collective.
The last 15 months have been tumultuous for the theatre community. Artists and technicians were forced to take up other jobs in order to stay afloat. So, this resumption of regular activities offers a bit of reassurance to them.
Arundhati Nag, Ranga Shankara founder, however, is cautious of being too optimistic. “When we reopened in January, we did it with posters and banners. But the situation worsened and we had to close again. So, this time we have to see how it goes. We are ready to reopen on August 15. But anything could happen before that,” she said.
“We have to take all precautions — sanitising the whole auditorium after each show, allowing only 50% occupancy, and getting the details of our guests for contact tracing. It is not easy for anyone. But I see this as a test of the art community’s tenacity — if we can perform despite all the uncertainties and if the audience continues to support us,” she added.