The story of Kannada theatre is inextricably linked with Gubbi Veeranna, and the theatre company he started — the Gubbi Sree Channabasaveshwara Nataka Company. More commonly known as the Gubbi company, it launched several outstanding actors such as GV Iyer, BV Karanth, Master Hirannaiah, Dr Rajkumar, Narasimharaju and Balakrishna.
B Jayashree, actor, singer, Padmashri awardee and former member of the Rajya Sabha is Veeranna’s granddaughter and a fitting inheritor of Veeranna’s mantle. She is the creative director of Spandana, a Kannada theatre group that she founded in 1976.
A consummate performer, Jayashree’s natural talent was honed at the National School of Drama and she has worked with illustrious theatre personalities such as Ebrahim Alkazi, Karanth, NS Venkataram, and Prasanna. She has acted and directed plays in Kannada, Hindi, English, and Konkani, and has acted in critically acclaimed Kannada films such as Nagamandala (1996) and Deveeri (1999).
Theatre is her true love and the stage is where she comes truly alive. Trained in the tradition of true theatre, she can sing and act as required. She brought alive the colourful days of Kannada theatre through music and words at ‘Taaye’, an event at the Bangalore International Centre.
“Theatre for me is all about connection; our effort through Spandana has been to keep alive the stories of the land through the oral tradition of story-telling and music through theatre,” she said. Varied folk art forms from different parts of Karnataka are part of Spandana’s productions. Kinnari Joogeraata, Bayalaata, Bhooteraata Gondaligara Mela, and Veeragaase are part of the troupe’s repertoire, with artistes being able to specialise not only in acting but also in singing, dancing and playing many instruments.
Jayashree interspersed engaging anecdotes with full-throated and spirited renditions of folk songs. The audience was hooked by the very first song an invocation to Lord Ganesh, ‘Sri ganaraya’ from the play Lakshapathi Rajana Kathe in the Kinnari Jogeraata style of north Karnataka.
“Touring theatres like the Gubbi Company travelled around the countryside, setting up a ‘tent’ theatre from scratch and bringing magic to people. Travelling by bullock carts and trains, with horses and even elephants, they often seemed like a circus on the move”, said Jayashree who started acting at the age of four in the Gubbi Company.
It was the first theatre company in Karnataka to employ female artistes to portray female characters on the stage. “My mother GV Malathamma was playing the role of Sita in a small town. While exiting the stage during a power outage, she fell down the steps. But she insisted that the show go on with another actor taking over the role. It was only after the play ended that she was taken to the hospital. But the delay proved costly — my mother lost the ability to walk.”
Where there’s theatre there’s tragedy and there’s also comedy. “Performances would begin late in the evenings after the farmers had finished their labour for the day. And sometimes, the audience would be drowsy. That’s when actors would start a dialogue in a very loud voice that would jerk sleepy audiences awake.”
“Theatre persons also joined the Freedom movement and sometimes took potshots from the stage. Musicians borrowed tunes from the marching bands to mark the entrance of the ‘villains’ such as Ravana, such as Lankadhi Paalana from ‘Sampoorna Ramayana’. The colonial British bigwigs who saw the performances were delighted at this tribute, and so was the audience who understood the musical jibe for what it was.”
The visceral connection between the performer and the audience in theatre was abundantly clear when to the accompaniment of folk drums Jayashree’s voice rang out strong and clear. Belying her 70 years, she sang Savirada sharanavva Karimayi thaye. (This is the title song of Dr Chandrashekhara Kambara’s novel ‘Karimayi’ which was adapted to the stage and directed by Jayashree). The accompanying vocalists and musicians on folk drums built up an electrifying atmosphere.
(The writer is an author and cultural evangelist).