Why is Fanny Price, the heroine of Austen’s Mansfield Park (1814), aghast at the idea of a private play being enacted by her cousins in the absence of the head of the house? What is so shudder-worthy in their choice of play –  Lovers’ Vows – that she thinks of its dialogues as “so unfit to be expressed by any woman of modesty, that she could hardly suppose her cousins could be aware of what they were engaging in”?

Jane Austen’s readers unfamiliar with the play Lovers’ Vows find these questions exceedingly mystifying. A reading of this play along with Mansfield Park gives us some answers, and also telling insights into societal attitudes towards theatre in 19th century England.

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TP Kailasam, one of the legends of Kannada literature, is popular for his satirical comedies. His Kannada works include Ammavra Ganda (Henpecked Husband), Bandvaal Illad Badaayi (False Pride), Bahishkaara (Ostracism). He also wrote four English plays – The Burden, Purpose, Fulfillment, and The Brahmin’s Curse and few poems under the title, Little Lays and Plays. He is aptly known as Prahasana Pitamaha (Grandfather of Kannada Humorous Plays).

Rangatantra, a theatre group of IT professionals, staged one of his most popular comedy plays Bandvaal illad Badaayi. This is the story about how Ahoblu, a lawyer who boasts of non-existent success in his practice and eventually becomes a victim of his false pride.

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The National Youth Festival 2011, Udaipur, had an interstate one-act play competition as part of their events. Each state had 30 minutes to put forward their act, from which a jury would pick the winners.

The theme was left to the contesting troupes to choose. They came up with plays about the exploitation of the poor, widow remarriage, the plight of Kashmiris and other such noble thought-provoking causes. Sad soliloquies were delivered, impassioned tirades launched. No play was complete without copious shedding of tears.

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To all my readers – best wishes for a New Year full of peace, prosperity and playfulness.

A special thanks for my co-authors Anshu, Arvind and Sreekanth, and all the theatre folks who make watching plays and writing this blog such a pleasure.

Months after you’ve seen a play, the details begin to blur. Not all details, though. Some minutiae – an actor’s expression, a snatch of dialogue, a setpiece – leave a mark so strong, it is as if you saw the play yesterday.

A round-up of such inspired theatre moments from plays I watched in the year 2010.

• Ravi Credit: A couple visits Ravi’s shop, asks for something on credit. A quiet plea, a hesitant yes. All seems harmless and above board but before you know it the scene has snowballed into a synchronized scream. A flock of villagers whirl in and strip the shop bare to the refrain of "Ravi credit" as Ravi looks on, bewildered. [Miss Meena]

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Ratnan Prapancha is an attempt to portray the life of Kannada poet G.P.Rajaratnam (GPR) on stage by Kriyative Theatre. The lead actors, Laxmi Chandrashekar and Sundar, have been theatre artists for long and are household names in Karnataka because of their roles in several successful Kannada serials.

The first thing that caught my eye when I entered Ranga Shankara was the assortment of musical instruments on stage. I had read that songs would be part of the show and had imagined that it would be done in the usual way of playing songs in background. Seeing the instruments right there built a pleasant anticipation of a concert-cum-play. Having grown up listening to and singing GPR’s popular songs like Naayi Mari, Bannada tagadina tuttoori, Bhoomin tabbid mod iddange among others, I was glad to be a part of this musical tribute to the legendary poet.

Pancham Halebandi initiated the day’s proceedings by singing a popular G.P. Rajarathnam poem. He managed to wipe out my expectations of a fitting musical tribute by breaking up certain words and rushing through/repeating some lines/words. With all due respect to the “experimentation”, I still prefer Mysore Ananthswamy and Kalinga Rao versions of these verses.

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