A teacher's encouragement to a group of young students to pursue their passion gave birth to one of Bengaluru's oldest and most recognised Kannada theatre groups, Sanchaya, in 1988.
The group has revolutionised the theatre scene in the city by offering adaptations of classics into powerful plays that strike a chord with the audience.
Sanchaya's 50-plus members have been part of over a thousand plays staged across the state and the country. The group is set to mark its 29th year by hosting Sanchaya-29, a three-day festival that will witness the staging of some of the group's best performances.
Its members are corporate professionals and don the actor's hat during their leisure to pursue their passion.
Eminent members who have taken the group to great heights include S K Madhava Rao, Bhanu Tirumalai, A N Ramesh, Ganesh Shenoy, C G Krishnaswami, V C Ramakrishna, Shankar Billemane and Ramesh Upadhyay.
The three-day festival will feature some of their best plays including 'Parahita Pashana' directed by Shankar Billemane, 'Bara' directed by Shashidhar Bhagirath and The Tempest by Joseph John, that will be staged at Rangashankara from May 17-19. "It has been a phenomenal journey for us. We have performed over 39 plays in the last 29 years. Each play has been performed over 30-40 times across various venues. A lot of our plays are famous works of authors that have been translated into Kannada. They have a strong social message," said Keerthi Bhanu, founder of the group and a passionate theatre artiste.
"Most of our members have been with us since 1988, with some youngsters joining in the past few years. Some of our popular plays are 'Anke Tappida Shankarlal,' a play inspired by Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, the story of a gangster who becomes a politician and Tadroopi, a political satire on lookalikes," Bhanu said.
Anoosha Krishna, who has played diverse roles ranging from a 14-year-old to a 70-year-old, says, "Sanchaya has a very vibrant and welcoming environment that helps us learn, unlearn and relearn. I was mentored by a lot of senior actors who helped me get into the skin of the character I played."
"Our plays are inspired from rich literary works of eminent authors from across the world, from William Shakespeare to Bertolt Brecht. A lot of research goes into these plays for which we invite researchers, professors and authors to come and share their suggestions on recreating the plays by connecting their relevance to our lives," she adds.
![]( "A scene from the play 'Bara' directed by Shashidhar Bhagirath of Sanchaya theatre group. dh photo")
A teacher’s encouragement to a group of young students to pursue their passion gave birth to one of Bengaluru’s oldest and most recognised Kannada theatre groups, Sanchaya, in 1988.
The group has revolutionised the theatre scene in the city by offering adaptations of classics into powerful plays that strike a chord with the audience.
Sanchaya’s 50-plus members have been part of over a thousand plays staged across the state and the country. The group is set to mark its 29th year by hosting Sanchaya-29, a three-day festival that will witness the staging of some of the group’s best performances.
Its members are corporate professionals and don the actor’s hat during their leisure to pursue their passion.
Eminent members who have taken the group to great heights include S K Madhava Rao, Bhanu Tirumalai, A N Ramesh, Ganesh Shenoy, C G Krishnaswami, V C Ramakrishna, Shankar Billemane and Ramesh Upadhyay.
The three-day festival will feature some of their best plays including 'Parahita Pashana’ directed by Shankar Billemane, 'Bara’ directed by Shashidhar Bhagirath and The Tempest by Joseph John, that will be staged at Rangashankara from May 17-19. "It has been a phenomenal journey for us. We have performed over 39 plays in the last 29 years. Each play has been performed over 30-40 times across various venues. A lot of our plays are famous works of authors that have been translated into Kannada. They have a strong social message,” said Keerthi Bhanu, founder of the group and a passionate theatre artiste.
"Most of our members have been with us since 1988, with some youngsters joining in the past few years. Some of our popular plays are 'Anke Tappida Shankarlal,’ a play inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, the story of a gangster who becomes a politician and Tadroopi, a political satire on lookalikes,” Bhanu said.
Anoosha Krishna, who has played diverse roles ranging from a 14-year-old to a 70-year-old, says, "Sanchaya has a very vibrant and welcoming environment that helps us learn, unlearn and relearn. I was mentored by a lot of senior actors who helped me get into the skin of the character I played.”
"Our plays are inspired from rich literary works of eminent authors from across the world, from William Shakespeare to Bertolt Brecht. A lot of research goes into these plays for which we invite researchers, professors and authors to come and share their suggestions on recreating the plays by connecting their relevance to our lives,” she adds.
The group has revolutionised the theatre scene in the city by offering adaptations of classics into powerful plays that strike a chord with the audience.
Sanchaya's 50-plus members have been part of over a thousand plays staged across the state and the country. The group is set to mark its 29th year by hosting Sanchaya-29, a three-day festival that will witness the staging of some of the group's best performances.
Its members are corporate professionals and don the actor's hat during their leisure to pursue their passion.
Eminent members who have taken the group to great heights include S K Madhava Rao, Bhanu Tirumalai, A N Ramesh, Ganesh Shenoy, C G Krishnaswami, V C Ramakrishna, Shankar Billemane and Ramesh Upadhyay.
The three-day festival will feature some of their best plays including 'Parahita Pashana' directed by Shankar Billemane, 'Bara' directed by Shashidhar Bhagirath and The Tempest by Joseph John, that will be staged at Rangashankara from May 17-19. "It has been a phenomenal journey for us. We have performed over 39 plays in the last 29 years. Each play has been performed over 30-40 times across various venues. A lot of our plays are famous works of authors that have been translated into Kannada. They have a strong social message," said Keerthi Bhanu, founder of the group and a passionate theatre artiste.
"Most of our members have been with us since 1988, with some youngsters joining in the past few years. Some of our popular plays are 'Anke Tappida Shankarlal,' a play inspired by Bertolt Brecht's The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, the story of a gangster who becomes a politician and Tadroopi, a political satire on lookalikes," Bhanu said.
Anoosha Krishna, who has played diverse roles ranging from a 14-year-old to a 70-year-old, says, "Sanchaya has a very vibrant and welcoming environment that helps us learn, unlearn and relearn. I was mentored by a lot of senior actors who helped me get into the skin of the character I played."
"Our plays are inspired from rich literary works of eminent authors from across the world, from William Shakespeare to Bertolt Brecht. A lot of research goes into these plays for which we invite researchers, professors and authors to come and share their suggestions on recreating the plays by connecting their relevance to our lives," she adds.
A teacher’s encouragement to a group of young students to pursue their passion gave birth to one of Bengaluru’s oldest and most recognised Kannada theatre groups, Sanchaya, in 1988. The group has revolutionised the theatre scene in the city by offering adaptations of classics into powerful plays that strike a chord with the audience.
Sanchaya’s 50-plus members have been part of over a thousand plays staged across the state and the country. The group is set to mark its 29th year by hosting Sanchaya-29, a three-day festival that will witness the staging of some of the group’s best performances.
Its members are corporate professionals and don the actor’s hat during their leisure to pursue their passion.
Eminent members who have taken the group to great heights include S K Madhava Rao, Bhanu Tirumalai, A N Ramesh, Ganesh Shenoy, C G Krishnaswami, V C Ramakrishna, Shankar Billemane and Ramesh Upadhyay.
The three-day festival will feature some of their best plays including 'Parahita Pashana’ directed by Shankar Billemane, 'Bara’ directed by Shashidhar Bhagirath and The Tempest by Joseph John, that will be staged at Rangashankara from May 17-19. "It has been a phenomenal journey for us. We have performed over 39 plays in the last 29 years. Each play has been performed over 30-40 times across various venues. A lot of our plays are famous works of authors that have been translated into Kannada. They have a strong social message,” said Keerthi Bhanu, founder of the group and a passionate theatre artiste.
"Most of our members have been with us since 1988, with some youngsters joining in the past few years. Some of our popular plays are 'Anke Tappida Shankarlal,’ a play inspired by Bertolt Brecht’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, the story of a gangster who becomes a politician and Tadroopi, a political satire on lookalikes,” Bhanu said.
Anoosha Krishna, who has played diverse roles ranging from a 14-year-old to a 70-year-old, says, "Sanchaya has a very vibrant and welcoming environment that helps us learn, unlearn and relearn. I was mentored by a lot of senior actors who helped me get into the skin of the character I played.”
"Our plays are inspired from rich literary works of eminent authors from across the world, from William Shakespeare to Bertolt Brecht. A lot of research goes into these plays for which we invite researchers, professors and authors to come and share their suggestions on recreating the plays by connecting their relevance to our lives,” she adds.