ಅರಣ್ಯ ಕಾಂಡ | Aranya Kānda

Prasanna is a theatre director, writer and activist. He is one of the pioneers of modern Kannada theatre. He co-founded the theatre group Samudaya in the 1970s. He has directed plays in Kannada, Hindi, Punjabi and English for various theatre repertories including National School of Drama, New Delhi, Rangmandal, Bhopal and Rangayana, Mysore. He has written several plays in Kannada including Tadroopi and Haddu Meerida Haadi and has recently adapted Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj for Kannada theatre.

Prasanna has also written Desiya Jeevana Paddati (The Practices of Desi Life, 2005), Yantragalannu Kalachona Banni (Unclasping Ourselves from Machines, 2009), Desiya Aaahara Paddati (The Traditions of Desi Food, 2013) and Indian Method in Acting (2013), a pioneering effort at interpreting the methods of modern Indian theatre. Prasanna is also founder of Charaka, a women’s co-operative in Bhimanakone, Sagara Taluk.

Dr Sripada Bhat hails from Dhareshwar, Uttarkannada district. He has directed more than 150 plays while being involved in many collective organisations of the country. He has received many awards in education and theatre. A collection of his plays, Bahubhumike, Acting Manual, Folk Theater of Uttara Kannada, Yakshagana, Sahitya and Natakprachnya have been published. The plays directed by him have been performed not only in Karnataka but also in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi. He has conducted hundreds of theatre workshops for teachers, students, workers and farmers in most parts of Karnataka. The dramas he produced in the village of Seshagiri along with farmers and labourers are a testimony of his work in rural theatre.

Having learned the mridanga since childhood, Anush can play many rhythm based instruments and can match his vocals with them. He has provided instrumental music for more than a thousand classical and lyrical programs till now and is currently experimenting with various possibilities of music through his bands ‘Navu’ and ‘RidamAdda’. He has also has directed the music for the play ‘Aranyakanda’.

Raised in Mysuru and based out of Pondicherry, Ranjana has been a textile designer for the past six years and a theatre artist for fourteen. Since graduating from Scotland with an MA in knitwear design, she has been working with a cluster of rural artisans who create clothes by hand-spinning, hand-knitting, weaving and crocheting. She began her theatre journey in children’s theatre and has been actively performing with Natana Rangashale, Mysuru. She has been working with various theatre groups as a costume designer and has worked on plays like Three Penny Opera, Bhasa’s Mricchakatika, Ushaharana to name a few.

Hailing from Mysore, he has completed a certificate course from Rangayana Bharatiya Rangashikshana Kendra Mysore and a Graduate Degree from Neenasam Theatre Institute Heggodu. He has worked as a stage manager and lighting designer for 10 years, directed about 7 plays in various parts of Karnataka and worked as a production manager for two poetry films as part of the Kannada Kavya Kannadi film project organized by Ninasam Foundation. Currently a full-time theatre practitioner, and a of the member of M M Light and Sounds firm in Mysore, he is active in designing and installing light-sound equipment for auditoriums .

Hailing from a small town called Mangala, of Chamarajanagar district, Manju has been actively associated with Rangavalli for the past eight years. He has not only acted but also been actively involved in the backstage work of several plays of Rangavalli. He has acted in Mithun No2, Madhya Ratriya Tiganegalu, Parshwa Sangeetha, and Blind Shot, among others.