Woman power to take centrestage at theatre fest

mysore: a week-long national women's theatre festival beginning here on sunday is expected to showcase the multi-faceted role of women in the indian society, besides highlighting exploitation of the fairer sex by their male counterparts. the plays being staged during this festival will also delve into the aims and ambitions of the indian women and their suppression by the male dominant society in the guise of protecting its culture and traditions.the festival will focus on the sub-conscious mind of the woman in the indian context and the roles played by her in society. according to organisers, akka, the name of the festival not only reflects sartorial mother role played by elder sister, but also symbolises with the 12th revolutionary saint writer akkamahadevi. this is more relevant when the year is being celebrated as ``women's empowerment year.'' on the occasion, the organisers besides organising exhibition, seminars and street plays have also decided to felicitate chindodi leela, r. nagarathnamma, subhadramma mansoor and prema karanth the women theatre artistes, who have contributed a lot for the growth of kannada theatre. while chindodi leela hailing from davangere town is known for the record performance of the play policana magalu and for her 50 years' of service to kannada darma field, nagarathnamma of mysore has dedicated her life for the cause of kannada drama. subhadramma mansoor, who joined theatre at a tender age of nine is remembered for her role as `draupadi' in the play rakta ratri, while, prema karanth is known for modern day kannada theatre activities as an actress, director and artiste. jnanpith award winner krishna sobti is scheduled to inaugurate this festival on sunday evening. karnataka kannada and culture minister rani satish will declare open the newly re-laid ``bhoomi geetha'' the stage for these dramas at rangayana in the kalamandir premises, here. noted theatre personalities like b.v. karanth, basavalingaiah and others are expected to attend the inaugural function. ticket sales up: after initial hiccups, the sale of tickets for shows of various plays being staged in the akka festival has picked up and tickets for some shows have been sold out. according to rangayana sources, the tickets for the play ye ladki being staged by national school of drama troupe as an inaugural play have been sold out. ``we are doing brisk business in regard to some of the plays to be staged by noted national troupes but there is less demand for tickets of the lesser known plays,'' revealed a rangayana officer, adding, however, there is not much demand for tickets of kannada plays. the tickets for the theatre festival are available at rangayana. the rates are rs 50 and 20.