Just too much drama

As Rangayana, one of India's most famous repertory companies, plunges into confusion, leading lights of theatre decry the hasty resignation of its director B Jayashree over her differences with the artistes

Just too much drama

B Jayashree's decision to resign as director of Rangayana was hasty, illustrious directors who had headed the famous repertory theatre said yesterday.

Known all over India for her folk-inspired theatre productions, actor-director Jayashree resigned earlier this week, saying the artistes at the repertory theatre had humiliated her.

Chidamabara Rao Jambe, famous theatre director and former director of Rangayana, said, "I don't like her statements against the artistes. She should have thought clearly before going there."

He said he had faced many hurdles when he went to Rangayana from Ninasam, which many saw as a rival organisation.

"The artistes said hurtful things, but I didn't take all that to heart," he told MiD DAY.

Prasanna and Basavalingaiah, much acclaimed directors at the National School of Drama, faced similar problems when they went to head the high-profile organisation in Mysore, but they didn't go around pointing fingers at the actors.

"I really admire the artistes there because they have built up the repertory and kept the flag flying," Jambe said.u00a0u00a0

Rangayana artistes reportedly said they didn't like Jayashree's "rightist" ideology, but Jambe believes ideology is just a bogey. "They have performed the works of playwrights from a wide spectrum of thought," he remarked.

Rangasamaja, the governing body, could have sorted out most of Jayashree's problems, Jambe said. "They meddled in administration," he said.

C Basavalingaiah, whose plays have won appreciative audiences in Mysore, Bangalore and Delhi, agrees. "The artistes have been around for 20 years and Jayashree should have worked out a way of directing them," he said.

He said the artistes had fought with him as well. "They didn't speak to me for a year but I soldiered on and won their affection," he told MiD DAY.

Basavalingaiah was looking forward to some big productions, considering Jayashree's company drama background. "But she quit in haste," he said.

"This was no ideological clash... the artistes have grown, and performed all kind of scripts. I believe Rangayana is a good, secular platform. It is wrong to blame artistes for her inadequacies," he said.

Hulagappa Kattimani, the actor described by Jayashree as having no culture, said, "I feel sad about her decision and won't say anything about remarks against me.u00a0 In art and theatre, it is common to argue and disagree."