Male Nilluvavarege: As the Game Unfolds

Watching a Kannada play after ages can have its risks and rewards. Rangasourabha's Male Nilluvavarege is just that perfect comeback vehicle (in more ways than one for me and for the viewer). The play, presumably, boasts of a cast that is returning to stage after over a decade. Really? The audience would never guess, given the manner in which the lead actors hold fort and redeem themselves admirably. A play with a thriller-like edge, about a game turning nastily sour, sharp dialogues (some of them long, but not degenerating into boring monologues). The ending would remind you of Poe's horror tales, when the poor hapless Anand (Pradeep Gulur), when fixed by his perpetrators (Deepak Murthy, Kiran Vipra, Nagaraj Krishnamurthy and Vinay Sheshadri in fine nuanced performances) hallucinates his way into... ok, I'd rather leave it to the theater goer to watch the play rather than reveal the plot right away, in a fit of misplaced enthusiasm.

Production values, settings have to be given adequate credit. Barring a few aberrations, a play that has the power to sustain audience attention. To be staged again to a wider audience at the Rangashankara on the 13th February, Kannada theater lovers have something substantial to look forward to with Rangasourabha's latest outing.