Three-day theatre fest from March 25, prisoners to participate

Three-day theatre fest from March 25, prisoners to participate

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi:  A three-day theatre fest in Udupi is to be held  march 25 -27  at Nutana Ravindra Mantap, in Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College,  titled ’Prison to Prison-Theatre Journey’ to mark World Theatre Day.   Sankalpa Mysore, in association with Karnataka Prison Department is organising it. 

It will be inaugurated by Superintendent of Police Annamalai.  The plays include ’Maranayaka’ by H S Shivaprakash, ’Bhagavadajjukkiyam- Sule Sanyasi’ by K V Subbanna, ’Jathegiruvanu Chandira’ by Jayanth Kaikini.

The shows are conducted with the support of Prison ADGP Kamalpanth. Theatre plays would be held in Mumbai in May and in Bengaluru in April, he said.  Briefing media, Sankalpa Mysore Director Hulugappa Kattimani said three plays to be enacted would comprise of performances by prison inmates sentenced to life. The 30-member team, alongwith other inmates, has already performed in eight towns.

Concepts :  The concept of  theatre performance by prison inmates evolved about 15 years ago. The first attempt was made in 1997. The theatre camp was organised solely to bring about changes in the mindset of prison inmates, who were locked out of the world in darkness behind prison walls.

 Bellary prison it was that started it, the then Superintendent of Police of Bellary, Gopal Hosur, lent support to the concept of including prisoners into theatre arena. Later, the experiment was held in Mysore with encouragement. Theatre acting is a collective effort and helps performers to come out from their self griefs which consume them. The three-day theatre fest had been performed in Dharwad with four plays.

It is heartening to observe that the actors ( prison inmates) who perform roles are seen to arise into better mindsets and future.  It is true that they are penalised for crime committed for one reason or another.

Voluntary :   The inmates, are encouraged to voluntarily  participate, enthusiastically took part in the plays. The inmates are mainly from Mysore, Bangalore and Dharwad jails.  As many as 90 inmates were selected and 30 of them perform at a time. Although only 30 members take part in the practice of plays, others who have an opportunity to witness are also influenced in changing their mental set up.  Training would be for 45 days and would include yoga, kolata and Kamsale.

Acting training :   Initiatives taken up involve inmates into arts, like sculpture, painting, manufacturing of clay idols, music composing etc.   Before indulging themselves into acting, the inmates read nearly 40 books and watch art movies to get an understanding of the basic skills. They are also initiated in yoga. The inmates also work on costume designs.

Female inmates were excluded due to legal issues.  Currently, female roles are given to others where no way out is available, but is rare.  A survey conducted some years ago found that the average IQ (intelligence Quotient ) of prisoners was found to be above the average.