Book Brahma Lit Fest: 'Theatre born out of conflict between pleasure and education'

The last day of the Book Brahma Literature Festival (BBLF) on Sunday, journalist, writer and actor Ugama Srinivas conducted the session entitled 'The Confrontation of Contemporary and Theatre'.

Sripad Bhat, theatre director, on whether the director should aim to entertain or educate, said: “Theatre was born out of the conflict between pleasure and education." He added: “I took up a play written by Shantakavi written in the 1550s and also formulated a play from the works of Saadat Hassan Manto about communal violence. The contextualising and interplay of these two works is inevitable for contemporary theatre."

On whether Kannada theatre is facing a crisis of lack of literary works, K V Narayanaswamy, dramatist, poet and critic, explained how it isn’t necessarily a lack of material but the problem of fewer plays being produced, nevertheless the theatre scene is vibrant in Karnataka with around 200 theatre groups participating.

He said he was concerned about the absence of a medium to bring about public awareness about theatre. “Plays cannot be produced just by one person, it takes the director, actors and the viewers together to make a play successful," he added.

Akshatha Pandavpura, actor, who is known for her solo acts, revealed that even people within the theatre field do not accept solo acts as a full-fledged play. She pointed out the democratic nature of solo acts which bypasses many obstacles that traditional plays have and makes it easier to bring out a play. “I use my body and mind as my tools to express myself," she said.

The panellists further discussed the historical contexts of theatre in India and the current affairs of theatre in Karnataka.