Treat in store for Mysore theatre lovers

mysore:the final countdown for the national women's theatre festival, akka, began on friday with various theatre troupes scheduled to perform in this week-long festival arriving here. this mega-event planned by various agencies, including the government of karnataka, will not only provide an opportunity for the troupes to exhibit their plays, it will also be an occasion for women theatre personalities to interact with their counterparts and the audience on women-related issues.the organisers, besides making arrangements for staging their dramas, have also planned seminars on various women-related issues during the festival time such as "female lead" and women empowerment and an exhibition on women's theatre activities. street plays are also included in the itinerary of this drama festival which include akka by the bhavaikatha vedike of hospet and o bol uti by jana natya manch from new delhi. audience and theatre groups will have the opportunity to interact with noted theatre personalities such as shabana azmi, prema karanth, rati partholomew, nadira babbar and theatre directors like kovalan narayan panicker, lalitha kalachi, bhagirati bai and rudraprasad senaguptha. the festival will begin on november 18 with the first theatre show being ye ladki staged by the national school of drama at the newly renovated stage bhoomi geetha of rangayana. plays like sarsammana samadi based on noted writer shivaram karanth's novel, kallurutti directed by kovalan narayan panicker, the chairman of kerala lalitha kala academy and staged by sopanam, druapadi-izzat by kanayalal troupe from manipur,sakkubai by yek jhoot bombay and shanuraya choudary by nadikar kolkata medai pesudu of vaing silence, chennai will be the main attractions of the festival. as many as 27 plays will be staged by the troupes in ten indian languages and of them, seven are from kannada theatre groups. kannada repertory rangayana chief prasanna claimed that all the preparations for the festival have been completed and ``we are waiting for the final take-off." he said the two stages have been renovated and developed to suit the needs of the troupes.