National School of Drama’s rendition of Kuvempu play draws city crowds, to go on for ten more days

BENGALURU: With eighteen more days and ten more shows to go, Kuvempu’s ‘Malegalalli Madgumagalu’, which is being staged by the National School of Drama (NSD), Bengaluru, has been creating a buzz among theatre lovers across the city.

The nine-hour all-night show being performed at Kalagrama, which is adjacent to Bangalore University’s Jnana Bharathi campus, has been keeping thousands of theatre lovers awake from 8.30pm to 5.30 am.
Noting this enthusiasm, the organisers are thinking of extending the show. Dr C Basavalingaiah, director NSD (Bengaluru) told Express, “We are happy with the overwhelming response from the public and are thinking of performing 10 more shows.”

As per the current schedule, the ongoing show is expected to get over on January 31. According to the organisers, the show has collected around `9 lakh in the last nine days and it is expected to reach `20 lakh by the end of the schedule. “When we decided to perform again in Bengaluru after three years, we did not  expect this much crowd. Saturday’s show was houseful and we got plenty of calls requesting tickets,” said Basavalingaiah.

The show is on for four days  a week — Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. A team of over 100 artistes, including on-stage and back-stage, are involved in the play. The play is directed by K Y Narayanaswamy with art direction by Shashidhar Adapa and music by Hamsaleka.

Even in the chilling weather, the public are enjoying the show in an open theatre where the stage shifts between four different sets. “I came here along with my  high-school going son and my family mainly to introduce the taste of Kuvempu’s writings to him. If I ask him to read the entire novel, he  will not. So, I made him watch the play and he really enjoyed it,”  said Subash Patil, a Kannada lecturer with a private degree college in the city.

“There is no luxury seating or other arrangements here. But watching the play sitting on the steps gives so much happiness. In some scenes, the characters and dialogues took us to Malnad region,” said 64-year-old Subramanya who hails from Teerthahalli and is settled in Bengaluru.

Conclusion at Kuppalli

The troupe has performed 80 shows in several locations, and the organisers want to clock 100 shows. They plan to stage the last 10 shows at Kuppalli, the birth place of Kuvempu. “We  have performed 80 shows, including this ongoing one at Kalagrama. We will complete 90 shows here and stage 10 more at Kuppalli,” said Basavalingaiah.