Theatre festival by Sahyadri Kalatanda in Shivamogga from March 7

Sahyadri Kalatanda, a theatre group in Shivamogga, is organising a four-day theatre festival, which will kick off on Saturday.

At a press conference in Shivamogga on Tuesday, G.R. Lava, who is representing the team, said that the festival would begin with the staging of Jokumaraswamy, written by Chandrashekhar Kambar and directed by Mr. Lava. Sumanasa Kodavuru, a team from Udupi, would stage Idi, a play directed by Viddu Uchhil. The play was originally written in Hindi by Sameer Suryakanth Penkal and has been translated into Kannada by Jayashree Idkidu.

Kalachakra, a production of Rangayana Kalaburagi, will be staged on the third day. Noted director Hulugappa Kaltimani has directed the play written by Jayaranth Dalvi in Marathi. H.K. Karkere has translated the play into Kannada.

The festival will conclude with the play Rama Krishna, Shiva, a production of Karavali Nirdigantha. It is a play based on an essay written by socialist thinker Ram Manohar Lohia. Ganesh Mandarth adapted the essay, which was then translated into Kannada by noted writer K.V. Subbanna.

Mr. Lava said that plays selected by the team for the festival address contemporary issues such as war, terrorism, and imperial rule that are troubling the world today.

The plays will be staged at Kuvempu Rangamandira in the city at 6.30 p.m. on all four days.