This year’s Prithvi Theatre Festival turns the spotlight on the work of three groups that have consistently put people at the heart of their work

NINASAM, KARNATAKA
In Heggodu, a small village in Karnataka’s Shivamogga district, it’s not uncommon for farmers gathered at a tea stall to break into a passionate discussion on King Lear or the latest production of Merchant of Venice. In this picturesque village, theatre is a way of life. That is Ninasam’s greatest achievement.
Ninasam (the short form of Sri Nilakanteshwara Natyaseva Samgha) is the tale of how a prosperous farmer brought the stories of the world to his village. In 1949, K V Subbanna, along with a group of villagers, set up a library, an amateur theatre troupe and a cultural centre at Heggodu. They performed Shakespeare and Brecht, Moliere and Mahabharata, screened films by Federico Fellini and Akira Kurosawa for the people of the village.
Over six decades, this small group expanded to accommodate a drama school, a publishing house, a film society and two theatre repertoires. In 1980, Ninasam opened the theatre institute to offer a 10-month long diploma course. “At first, we followed the truncated version of National School of Drama (NSD)’s curriculum. But over the years, we have changed it to suit our needs,” says Akshara K V, son of Subbanna, who is now at the helm of its affairs. The institute paved way for Ninasam’s rural theatre repertory group, Tirugata (which means travelling in Kannada). Every year, the troupe is trained for three months to stage three plays — an Indian, an international and a Kannada play. They travel with these plays to various villages and towns across Karnataka over a period of nine months. “Tirugata has staged nearly 80 plays so far, introducing different theatre styles and plays to the rural audience,” says Ashok. Plays like Ashadada Ondu Dina, Saddu Vicharane Nadeyuttide, Chidambara Rahasya and Macbeth became popular because they were not esoteric. For the rural audience, they were a means of engaging with the world outside. At Prithvi Theatre Festival, both its theatre units, Ninasam and Ninasam Tirugata, will stage two plays each called Venissina Vyapaara (a Kannada adaptation of The Merchant of Venice), Aakkashabutti (a play on the complexities of life in a metro), Aakashabheri and Yakshagana Vidynmati Kalyaana.
Thumbs up: “Along with theatre, K V Subbanna developed the whole community in Heggodu. This is ideal theatre,” says playwright Manav Kaul.

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