All the Worlds a Stage

No matter where I am,what I do and what I say,40 years of theatre always comes first, says actor and art activist Arundhati Nag,as she settles down after performing the role of a lifetime.

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No matter where I am,what I do and what I say,40 years of theatre always comes first, says actor and art activist Arundhati Nag,as she settles down after performing the role of a lifetime. Its a solo performance in Girish Karnads Hindi play Bikhre Bimb,a Ranga Shankara production. Technology meets theatre in the unusual play that brings Nag on-stage and on the television at the same time. You are competing with yourself. Its a lonely performance,with many layers and in the presence of absent characters. Its my most cherished performance and if I dont act after this,I know Ive done the best role,like a beautiful finale, smiles the National award-winning actor.

Theatre,for Nag,is her lifeline and her dream project is Ranga Shankara in Bengaluru. She visualises it as a theatre space that is affordable,viable and gives amateur theatre groups a platform to express themselves to a diverse audience. An intimate space with 300 seats,Nag says Ranga Shankara is a world-class theatre facility,which is available to theatre groups for only Rs 2,500 a day. Every city deserves a space like this. Three hundred days in a year,there is a play happening here and every show is a ticketed one,priced between Rs 50 and Rs 200.

A place like Chandigarh,which has so many theatre groups and a wonderful audience,can definitely emulate the concept, believes Nag.

Nag is excited about the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival 12,which begins on October 27. This year,the theme celebrates William Shakespeare and the inspiration has been the UKs recently-concluded Globe to Globe Festival. Thirty-seven plays were performed at the UK festival and we bring here five productions,with two from India, says Nag,who credits the success of the festival to all those who have a passion for theatre and have dedicated themselves to Ranga Shankara.

The festival will feature Mumbai-based Atul Kumars Twelfth Night and Sunil Shanbags Alls Well That Ends Well,Dhaka Theatres The Tempest from Bangladesh,Marjanishvilis As You Like It from Georgia and The Merry Wives of Windsor,a production from Kenya,with all the plays having been performed at the Globe to Globe Festival.

Theatres big moment is now,asserts Nag,who says nothing is happening on television to capture the intelligent and thinking audience. Theatre is what more and more people are turning to. There is a space for challenge,experience and nothing compares to a live act, says the actor,soaking in the standing ovation she has been receiving lately.

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All the Worlds a Stage

No matter where I am,what I do and what I say,40 years of theatre always comes first, says actor and art activist Arundhati Nag,as she settles down after performing the role of a lifetime.

All the Worlds a Stage

No matter where I am,what I do and what I say,40 years of theatre always comes first, says actor and art activist Arundhati Nag,as she settles down after performing the role of a lifetime.