A tree tells its tale

A tree tells its tale
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Recently, environmental activists climbed trees to protest felling by the Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) and now the city is all set to watch another act on tree tops.

No stage, no props and no artificial lighting. Just a tree at the corner of 18th main bus stop in Malleswaram on which a streetplay will be staged.

A Kannada play, ‘Nele’, (shelter) will be staged on June 5 — World Environment Day.

The street play, written and directed by television artiste Nagaraj Kote, has aroused curiosity in the city due to its uniqueness. ‘‘I hit upon this idea over eight years ago and have been since working on the script. With extensive damage to greenery, I thought it was high time I came out with such a play,’’ says Kote.

‘Nele’ is about the displacement of people due to development who find a last resort in nature’s lap which is also being threatened by media hype. The story has a large canopy but Kote would not want to kill curious cats by revealing its roots, shoots and trunk lines.

Only other environment-oriented work in recent years was Girish Karnad’s film ‘Cheluvi’ based on Chandrashekhar Kambar’s play, which again was based on a folk-tale collected by late A.K. Ramanujan.

However, ‘Nele’ is set in a contemporary backdrop. The music is by Shashidhar Kote. The play will be staged at 6.30 pm on June 5.

Chairman of Legislative Council V.R. Sudarshan will inaugurate the event and Malleswaram MLA M.R. Seetaram will preside.

Environmentalist Suresh Heblikar, film maker T.S. Nagabharana, theatre person C.R. Simha, cine artistes Mandya Ramesh and Tara will also be present.