Rangayana is a theatre institute which operates from Mysore, Karnataka

Karnataka

Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

, India. It works as an autonomous cultural institute. The organization consists of a professional repertory company, a theatre-training institute and a documentation and research centre. Rangayana offers courses in stage craft, preparation and presentation of plays in Kannada

Kannada language

Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...

. It also conducts programs for promotion of Kannada theatre. Rangayana hosts a theatre festival in Mysore every year. Rangayana is the only government sponsored repertory in the country. It is also undertaking a project to introduce theatre to kids and has created a children's repertory in association with the International Theatre Institute and Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency

The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency is a government agency of the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Sida is responsible for organization of the bulk of Sweden's official development assistance to developing countries....

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History

Rangayana was started by Government of Karnataka

Government of Karnataka

The Government of Karnataka is a democratically elected body with the Governor as the constitutional head. The Governor who is appointed for a period of five years appoints the Chief Minister and his council of ministers...

 in 1989 for promotion of stage crafts and plays. The project was the brainchild of B.V. Karanth and he was appointed as the first director of the institute. He continued in that position till 1995 when C.Basavalingiah took over from him. Prasanna

Prasanna

Prasanna , is an Indian theatre director and playwright from Karnataka. He is one of the pioneers of modern Kannada theatre. He graduated from the National School of Drama . He founded Samudaya and gave a creative direction to Kannada theatre in the 1970's with other activists. Prasanna lives in...

 was appointed as the third director of Rangayana in 2001. It was during his time that Rangayana started weekend performances. However Prasanna

Prasanna

Prasanna , is an Indian theatre director and playwright from Karnataka. He is one of the pioneers of modern Kannada theatre. He graduated from the National School of Drama . He founded Samudaya and gave a creative direction to Kannada theatre in the 1970's with other activists. Prasanna lives in...

 resigned from the position in 2003 due to conflict of interest between him and the Department of Kannada and Culture. Prasanna had a clash with the Government of Karnataka too when the government decided to cut back on the annual grants provided to Rangayana in 2003. However due to strong protests by various cultural bodies the government continued with its grants. Chidambara Rao Jambe of Ninasam

Ninasam

Ninasam is a cultural organisation located in the village of Heggodu in Sagar Taluk of the Shivamogga district in the state of Karnataka, India. Ninasam is the short form of Sri NIlakanteshwara NAtyaseva SAMgha, an organsiation dedicated to the growth of drama, films and publishing...

 fame was appointed as the fourth director and currently serving the position.

Divisions and infrastructure

Rangayana consists of professional repertory company, a theatre training institute called Bharatiya Ranga Shikshana Kendra and a documentation and research centre called Sriranga Ranga Mahiti and Samshodana Kendra.

Repertory company started performing two times a week regularly on weekends at Bhoomigeeta theatre at Mysore in 2002. Later in 2006, the weekend theatre program was reduced to one day a week citing busy schedule of artists. In addition, regular tours are conducted throughout Karnataka performing in different towns. It also attends national drama festivals held at different cities of India like New Delhi

New Delhi

New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...

, Mumbai

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

 and Bhopal.

The theatre training institute was started by Rangayana in 2001-02. It provides vocational training for teachers, social activists and amateur theatre personalities. The institute offers a one year diploma course in theatre. In addition, the institute has established links with the state government and conducts training in the field of communication skills, personality development, leadership development etc for the employees.

The documentation and research institute hosts a library related mainly to theatre. The center hosts seminars and discussions throughout the year at Mysore. A huge repertoire of untapped folk proverbs, epigrams, ballads, images and metaphors can still be found in the center.

Rangayana hosts different stages for performance such as Bhoomigitha, Vanaranga, Sriranga, Kutira and an art gallery called Lankesh art gallery bearing the name of popular writer and journalist P. Lankesh

P. Lankesh

Palegar Lankeshappa was a major Indian writer and journalist, writing in the Kannada language. He is probably the only writer who can be credited with bringing magical realism to Kannada literature apart from innovative use of the language...

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Activities

Rangayana organizes theme based national festivals that receive good response and attracts enthusiasts from all over the country. Theatres groups performing in different Indian languages

Languages of India

The languages of India belong to several language families, the major ones being the Indo-European languages—Indo-Aryan and the Dravidian languages...

and a troupe from abroad take part in the festival every year. Festival also hosts handicrafts exhibition, book exhibition, art exhibition, food festival, seminar and interaction with leading theatre personalities.

In order to reach people all over Karnataka, repertory conducts annual tours to different towns in the state which is called Ranga Yatre.