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The Hindu
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Jagriti Theatre to present The House of Bernarda Alba in the city this weekend
Federico García Lorca was a Spanish poet, playwright and theatre director in the early 1900's. He wrote The House of Bernarda Alba in 1936, just two months before he was assassinated by Nationalist forces at the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War. The play, which will be presented by Jagriti Theatre for the first time ever, revolves around control, power, freedom as well as the lack of them. In the play, Bernarda Alba declares an eight-year mourning period, following the death of her husband. However, with five unmarried daughters still at home, this decision becomes the reason for unhealthy and negative emotions to fester among family. 'I have always enjoyed Lorca's work and this is one of only three plays he wrote in his lifetime,' says Arundhati Raja, founder-trustee of Jagriti Theatre, adding, 'I was quite keen on it as I would have loved to have played the role of Bernarda. I've been wanting to do an all-woman play and this was the first one I thought of.' Arundhati says *hile the play may seem to be about women in a patriarchal society, 'there's so much more to it — power and freedom, as well as the loss of it, and what that does to individuals.' She adds that though The House of Bernarda Alba was written in 1936, Lorca's brilliance shines through. 'It reads like a modern script. Contrary to other works of the time, there are no long monologues and the plot unfolds through seemingly simple dialogues. That stood out to me as a script.' Another aspect of the play that appealed to Arundhati was Lorca's description of it. 'On the title page of the play, he referred to this work as 'a photographic documentation of the life of women in rural Spain'. I found it interesting that he spoke of a medium that was fairly new at the time, and especially since he was known more as a poet than a playwright.' 'It piqued my interest in thinking how we could represent this aspect in our work. I have done the set design in black and white. Also, black-and-white photographs will be projected at the beginning and between each act; in our own way of presenting a live photographic documentary.' Though the idea of a monochromatic set and presentation of the play is hers, Arundhati says she has not adapted or revised the script. 'I'm from a generation that has worked only with scripts and we had a lot of fabulous ones to choose from. For me, it has always been about looking at the lines of through the eyes of the playwright; they had a vision, and they wrote the dialogue. It is not for me to change it.' According to Arundhati, there is a tendency to say many plays, though written long ago are still relevant, but with its themes of class inequality, gender divide, repression and sexuality, The House of Bernarda Alba remains pertinent today. Artistes performing in the play include Munira Sen, Padmavati Rao, Mayura Baweja, Priyanka Chandrasekhar, Kalyani Kumar, Yamuna Kali, Samragni Dasgupta, Urvashi HV and Garima Mishra. The House of Bernarda Alba will be staged at Jagriti Theatre on August 22 at 7.30pm, and on August 23 and 24 at 3.30 and 7.30 pm. The play is suitable for audiences aged 12 and above. Tickets, priced at ₹400, are available on BookMyShow.
The Hindu
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Gretel by Rebecca Spurgeon is a reimagined version of the classic Grimm fairy tale
Jagriti Theatre's upcoming play, Gretel, reimagines the classic German fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, made famous by the Brothers Grimm. The original story follows two siblings, Hansel and Gretel, who try to make their way back home, after being abandoned in a forest. There, they wander into a magical house and fall into the clutches of a wicked witch. Through their courage and quick thinking, they trick the witch, escape captivity and return home. Directed by Rebecca Spurgeon, Gretel explores the concept of home, and who defines it. 'For me, the main idea in Hansel and Gretel is ultimately about the search for home and all through the play, we look at how the idea of home can vary from person to person,' says Rebecca. The central idea that the pay deals with is that home does not have to be a specific place or a specific person; you can create that sense of home in any place you feel you belong. 'We wanted to show how a journey is about asking questions, the minute we become comfortable with where we are, and if we stop asking questions, then we may not be able to move forward.' 'In this play, the character Gretel has been developed as a person who always asks questions, and, because she wants to know, she stands a chance of finding more answers, hence being an important force in helping both of them return home safely.' Ashiqa Salvan, who plays Gretel, says the character has been developed as a larger representation of women in society. 'In the story, Hansel is seen as the solution maker, and Gretel is seen as someone following him. We developed her character, where she asks and contradicts, she found her own way of doing things, which ultimately helps both of them,' says Ashiqa. She also pointed out how stories are normally written and told in a manner where the men are usually the protagonists. ' Women invariably are presented as supporting or following the protagonist. We tried to tell the story in a way that Gretel is the protagonist.' Akhshay Gandhi, who plays Hansel, says, 'Hansel plays the role of a responsible adult, showing he is in control, even though he might not have a clue about what to do next. The character brings out the humanity of a person, what it takes for someone to be responsible when you are not equipped to do it.' The one takeaway, Akhshay says, for people to be empathetic to caregivers. The music for the play will be performed by Ananth Menon and Vedanth Bharadwaj. 'The songs were written even before the script came out, so a lot of the script was improvised based on the music,' says Ananth. This production is a collaboration between Jagriti Theatre and Okapi. The play will be staged at Jagriti theatre on June 20 at 7.30 pm, and June 21 and 22 at 3.30 & 7.30 pm. Tickets for the play will be available in
The Hindu
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hindu
Gossip, dreams, and courtroom drama: Theatrenama brings small-town stories alive
Theatrenama Repertory, a Bengaluru-based theatre troupe, is set to present its new Hindi play, Deluxe Hair Cutting Salon, at Jagriti Theatre, Whitefield, on May 10 and May 11, at 3.30 p.m. and 7.30 p.m. on both days. Written and directed by Sandeep Shikhar, the play, according to the synopsis by the team, is set in Advocate Mukherjee Street in a North Indian town and revolves around the hair-cutting saloon run by the protagonist, Bachchan. The street is full of lawyers, and in Bachchan's limited worldview, that is the most revered profession in the world. Bachchan gets mixed up every day with somebody in the neighborhood, especially the owners of the next-door pathological lab and the motor garage. These daily run-ins result in the protagonist's dreaming of a courtroom drama every night involving the characters from the neighborhood, leading to exciting revelations about their lives. The play explores through its characters' lives as to how seemingly opposite behaviours, incidents, and actions could be two sides of the same coin, said the synopsis. Speaking to The Hindu, the director said that the play was inspired by his own life, 'The inspiration for the play is Dhanbad, where I grew up, and a mining township in Jharkhand where I hail from. The characters and their back stories have been inspired by people I know, but I added a little twist of my own. Having grown up on a street named Gyan Mukharjee Road in Dhanbad, surrounded by lawyers, I spent my entire childhood seeing these characters. It left a huge impression on me. In small towns, a barber's shop still rules the roost as far as gossip is concerned because this is where you get to know what is going on in your neighbourhood. The play also juxtaposes the lives of these simple people with those who represent the so-called white collared jobs,' he said. Sandeep said the play was written almost 14 years ago and he made changes over the years to suit the current context. 'When I direct my own play, I always assume as if I am directing some other playwright's play. While directing one must look at the play from many perspectives,' he said. Sandeep added that the play has a universal appeal and can be relatable for all kinds of audience, 'This play is not about very rich or poor people, it is not about from which background these characters belong, it is about simple people and their simple aspirations. Every character in this play has a problem which they deal with and get on with life along with sharing and enjoying life's little joys,' he explained. The director added that working with the actors of Theatrenama repertory for this production added to the quality of the play and made direction easier for him. Deluxe Hair Cutting Salon is performed by Akash Dutta, Anas Syed, Yeeshu Prateek, Anubhav Chaturvedi, Aditya Mudgal, Bhavya Buwal, Puja Panicker, Priyanshu Kumar, Atul Rai and Pawan Gayakar. Priced at ₹400, tickets for the show are available on BookMyShow and the Jagriti Theatre box-office.
