Vedike Foundation, the well-known theatre group based in Bengaluru, is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a year-long Kannada theatre festival. The festival also commemorates the 80th birth anniversary of the group’s founder C R Simha (1942-2014).
It opens with Girish Karnad’s ‘Tughlaq’, a play originally directed by Simha, and P Lankesh’s ‘Polisariddaare Eccharikke’, directed by Jasleen R S. Ritwik Simha, C R Simha’s son, is directing a series of plays for the festival, which revives Vedike’s popular productions such as ‘Kaakana Kote’, ‘Bhairavi’, ‘Haavu Yeni’, ‘8/15’, and ‘Nirase.com’. The festival opens on January 14, on the occasion of Sankranti. “We are beginning the festival with the celebrated play ‘Tughlaq’, a milestone in the history of Kannada theatre. The primary focus of the festival is to provide a wholesome theatrical experience through a variety of genres,” Ritwik Simha told Metrolife.
Vedike Foundation plans to put up 36 shows and 15 plays during the year. Tickets are available at the venues. From February, tickets are also available online.
* Vedike 40, K H Kalasoudha, Hanumanthanagar, and Vyoma Artspace, J P Nagar, on the second and fourth Saturday of every month.