Mangalore: By the prisoners, for the prisoners

DHNS

Mangalore, 24 Jun 2012: Come July 2, Mangaloreans will get an opportunity to witness one of the rarest of the occasions. As many as 80 prisoners from four central jails namely Bangalore, Mysore, Belgaum and Dharwad will come all the way to Mangalore to stage theatrical performances for consecutive four evenings and give a new experience to the theatre enthusiasts.

 

At a time, when prisoners are often neglected and ill-treated by the society for the crimes they have committed, Mysore based ‘Sankalpa’ team of artistes led by Rangayana artiste Hulugappa Kattimani is on a mission to change the mindset of the society.

 

The prisoners who have been trained by Kattimani during his 45 days of theatre workshops he had conducted in the central jails as part of the ‘theatre therapy’ will put their talents to test and are all hopeful to prove that after all they too are good human beings, if given a chance.

 

Speaking to Hulugappa Kattimani who was in Mangalore on Saturday, informed that the prisoners will be staging plays under the banner ‘Jailininda Jailige Ranga Yatre’ (theatre tour from jail to jail).

 

The 15 years of struggle to bring the prisoners to the mainstream using theatre as a tool, has finally been recognised by the government. On the request of the State Prison Ministry, the ‘Sankalpa’ team is organising the tour which deals with the trained prisoners staging plays in different cities of Karnataka. Mangalore is the fourth city after Belgaum, Dharwad and Bangalore, where the plays are staged, he said.

 

Theatre therapy, a ray of hope

 

Kattimani stands apart from his contemporaries for the unique experiment he took up way back in 1996 (for the first time in India) of training the prisoners to stage plays and help them to get rid of the frustration they normally undergo.

 

Inspired by his mentor, renowned theatre artiste B V Karanth, Kattimani decided to bring change in the routine life of prisoners by organising theatre workshops for the interested prisoners at the central jails. Since then, he did not look back. The social motive with which he has been conducting the task, has changed the lives of several prisoners who used to suffer inside the four walls of the dark cells.

 

Recalling a few instances, Kattimani fondly said that a prisoner named S V Ramesh turned out to be good human after constantly playing the roles of Gandhiji and Basavanna. “The theatre is not only a stress buster to the prisoners, but also it demands them to get into the character and somewhere it changes them as individuals.

 

Often, the plays I choose are of Shakespeare for the guilt conscience theme or on the life of Gandhiji as it enlightens the prisoners to be good human beings,” he said.

 

According to Kattimani, his experiment has entirely banked on the goodwill of the prisoners.

 

“I have been asked several times, if the prisoners ever made an attempt to escape from the troupe while on a tour. And I would like to tell all of them that ‘No’, my prisoner artistes never put me down. We have staged over 100 shows in the last 15 years, but never did I face a bad experience. I trust them and they live up to my expectations.

 

In fact, the theatre therapy has brought more change in the attitude of the jailors towards than anything else,” he said with a pinch of proud.The four plays to be staged in Mangalore are Ward No 6, King Lear (Shakespeare), Shivaratri (Chandrashekhar Kambara) and Gokarnada Gowdashali (Champa). The programme is sponsored by entrepreneur Ronald Colaco.