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Home > News > India News > Article > Dig deep into Bangalores underbelly

Dig deep into Bangalore's underbelly

Updated on: 02 December,2010 10:42 AM IST  | 
Priyanjali Ghose |

What can be more fun than three plays over three days where contemporary characters go in search of the garden city's soul?

Dig deep into  Bangalore's underbelly

What can be more fun than three plays over three days where contemporary characters go in search of the garden city's soul?u00a0

At a time when today's youth go scot-free and don't give a damn to what really is happening around the world, a 16-year-old came up with a spoof called Omlet based on one of Shakespeare's greatest plays Hamlet. It has been over a decade since then and the teenager has grown up to become a theatre and film professional, Ram Ganesh Kamatham.


A still from dancing on glass

But the journey of understanding the hearts and minds of the garden city and its inhabitants continues. Known as one of the best chroniclers of modern Bangalore through theatre, Kamatham has carved a distinct niche for himself on the urban stage. This weekend watch out for this trilogy of his plays: Bust, Creeper and Dancing on Glass will be staged on three consecutive days.

Confessing that he had not consciously set out to create a trilogy, Kamatham says, "It was a matter of happy co-incidence that after seven years of writing I found that three of the nine full-length plays that I wrote in this period seemed to belong to one cycle - one set of preoccupations."

Kamatham adds that he views all these three plays that are written and directed by him, as a part of the same personal mythology with recurring images and themes. However, according to him, all the plays are similar in spirit but with varying shades of humour.

These plays are set in Bangalore and show how the city's urban population is desperately trying to figureu00a0 themselves and their city where they may have grown up or are working. But Kamatham is conscious that what we see on stage should make us think and not brood.

Explaining that wit allows you to ask complex questions without driving everyone to despair and depression, Kamatham says, "Dancing on Glass is a black comedy or a tragic-comedy if you prefer. Creeper is pretty funny, but also veers into extremely dark and psychologically complex terrain. Bust is a quest gone haywire; it's a zany adventure comedy, if that's possible on stage."

Humorous and fast paced, Kamatham's plays are known for mirroring the changes that Bangalore and its people are facing all thanks to urbanisation. The unique thing about Kamatham's plays has always been that they don't preach but question.

While allowing you a space to understand the nature of the dialogue, these three plays promise to be an interaction that helps you to understand your surrounding better. So if you want tou00a0 know how our city ubersexual populace thinks and functions, then joining Kamatham and his crew this weekend is a must.


At: Ranga Shankara, JP Nagar
For: Rs 150
Call: 98860 11973


The trilogy

>>Bust
The play begins when three adventurous and fun loving women in Bangalore meet and decide to delve into the city's history in search of an ancient relic buried beneath a thousand-year-old temple.u00a0
On: December 3, 7.30 pm
>>Creeper
Performed by Mallika Prasad and Abhishek Majumdar, the play is a modern re-imagination of the tale of Vikram and Betal.u00a0u00a0
On: December 4, 7.30 pm
>>Dancing On Glass
A dark comedy, this play looks at the flip side of the IT world. It revolves around the lives of Megha, a call centre employee and Shankar, a software engineer.u00a0
On: December 5, 3.30 pm and 7.30 pm


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