Book lovers and theatre enthusiasts are in for a treat! Play and book readings are becoming more prominent in the city and the young are getting hooked.
A recent play reading of Maya Bazaar held at Alliance Francaise turned out to be quite a hit – with theatre enthusiasts getting carried away and turning the play reading into a jolly play singing session!
And a Harry Potter book reading by theatre person Deesh Mariwala at Atta Galatta also caused quite a lot of excitement among book lovers in the city. A relatively new concept in the city, the art of reading out a play is slowly catching up in the city. We talk to a few places hosting these readings to understand the trend better…
Bengaluru has seems to love this trend as there are readings of books and plays almost every week!
“Being a bookstore first, it was an obvious choice for us,” says Lakshmi Sankar of Atta Galatta. “It’s the best way to get book lovers from different fields to come together. Theatre people are also getting involved so they can tap into other fields and try out different things in order to stand out,” continues the co-founder who not only hosts book reading, but also poetry and prose readings for literature enthusiasts as well!
While these readings are an obvious choice for some, for others it’s a way to stand apart.
“Bengaluru is full of storytellers who want to bring back the art which has been passed through generations. Lavanya Prasad and Ameen Haque were some of the crowd pleasers. Zainab Sulaiman, the author of Simply Nanju, was also quite a hit with not only adults but also kids! Book readings are one of the best ways to get kids interested in books, in today’s world of technology” reveals Aashti Mudnani, the founder of the Lightroom bookstore, which hosts a number of book readings by authors as well as book lovers, year round.
While bookstores focus on book readings, Bangalore Little Theatre focuses on play readings!
“We started it off as a way to appreciate theatre. India has always been into storytelling and this is just another form which seems to be hitting off with the youth. The play readings lay down a platform for people who are too shy to go on stage but are still interested in theatre. So they can either come and listen or be a part of the reading,” says Abhishek Sundaravadanan, the organiser.
“Emil’s Enemies and My Fair Lady were some of the plays that were popular among the audience,” adds Abhishek enthusiastically.
So all you reading enthusiasts, its time to head out, explore genres and morph and transform your voice into to suit your favourite characters!
