Last reading for 2009 !

As we approach towards our last reading session in 2009 ( Sunday the
20th ),lets look back and see how we have done so far and also read
a few pages from all our entire 2009 reading list -

15 plays is a good start considering we also produced 18 shows of 3
plays this year - " Six degrees of seperation", The Cyclist and
Silence the court is in sesion.

Join us in our last reading of 2009 where we read snippets from our 2009 reading list.

See you all - The time and space remains same to same -
Room #4 Alliance Francaise, Vasantnagar.
Contact Yashwanth 9880426783

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Sunday reading

Sunday's getting closer and its time for our reading sessions again

This sunday we plan to read 2 comic one act plays " Black comedy " and " Actors Nightmare ". We have performed Actors Nightmare earlier, along with 3 sketches of Monty Python.

Join us this weekend for a hilarious Sunday Afternoon
Time: 3:30 PM
Place: Alliance Francaise, Vasant nagar

Map here

Contact: Yashwanth - 9880426783

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Actor's_Nightmare
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Comedy

More information about the 2 plays

Disclaimer : This is purely a theater interest and appreciation activity and has no commercial relevance whatsoever

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Article about our reading session on Midday

Last Sunday we met up Nolan Pinto from Midday who wanted to write about our reading sessions. So, heres the article, there is also a video of the entire interview.


http://www.mid-day.com/whatson/2009/nov/201109-alternate-sunday-play-reading.htm
Our next reading is on 22nd Nov, 330 PM at Alliance Francaise.

Part 1




Part 2

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VODO on slideshare

Vodo Production

View more presentations from Version One Dot Oh.

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VODO reading resumes :-)

Version One Dot Oh! We resume our reading session this sunday at 3:30 PM at Alliance Francaise.

Watch this space while we upload more details about the play.
The time and place remain same,
3:30 PM
Alliance Francaise


Cheers
Team VODO

Vijay Tendulkar Festival is here !

Click on the image for a higher resolution image

Oct 30 and 31st is going to be a treat to all Vijay Tendulkar fans, we are going have a special Vijay Tendulkar Weekend with two of his most popular plays, "The Cyclist" and "Silence! the Court is in Session". Only 400 tickets of each play, so hurry up and book your tickets !

The Cyclist Snaps !

Created with flickr slideshow.

The Final Count Down Begins!!!

For Tele Booking Call VODOPHONE @ 95900 41985 or click here to block Tickets online

'The Cyclist' Preview in Hindu

http://www.thehindu.com/mp/2009/10/08/stories/2009100851460300.htm

Count Down Starts...

For Tele Booking Call VODOPHONE @ 95900 41985 or click here to block Tickets online

Who's Who of 'The Cyclist'

With only two days to go for D-Day, here is a sneak peak of the Team which has been riding on 'The Cyclist'

Shashank Purushotham – Main Character

Kishore Acharya – Father / Sage

Aditi Kalkunte – Mother / A

Sandeep Ravindra – Man / Lord of the Heaven

Vikram Balakrishna – Passerby / Lord of the Earth

Nikhil Bharadwaj – Z / Lord of the Earth (understudy)

Raaghu Shimoga - Bandit

Deepthi Prabhakar – Ghost / B

Sushmitha – Mermaid / C

Harish Seshadri - Director

Raaghu Shimoga - Lights Design

Vidya appiah - Costumes

Vikram Rai - Sounds

Yashwanth M - Marketing & Sponsorship Coordinator

Vijay Kumar Yenne - Production Coordinator

Press Coverage of 'The Cyclist' in Deccan Chronicle

French course Timings Sept-Dec 09

French Course Timings Sept-Dec 09

One more week to go !

Created by OnePlusYou

One week to go, what can you expect ?

Block Tickets for 'The Cyclist'

Alternate Sunday Play Reading Series

This Sunday we read " Show me the way to heaven", (Original in Kannada - Dari yavudaiyya Vaikuntakke" by Adya Rangacharya – 1965) Translated into English by Usha Desai in 2003.

VODO thanks Ms Usha Desai in supporting our initiative and sharing this translation with us.

Time:
3:00 PM, 13th September 2009.

Venue:
Alliance Francaise de bangalore
Thimmiah Road, Vasantnagar, Bangalore


Map: http://preview.tinyurl.com/mqtf87

RSVP: Yashwanth - 9880426783 | Contactvodo@gmail.com

About the Playright:

Born in a small town of Agarkhed in the erstwhile State of Bombay, he had his education at Bombay and London Universities. From an early age he was fascinated by the stage, by the rural stage in Kannada, the professional theatre in Marathi and by Shaw and Shakespeare in London. Though he took to teaching at Dharwad and Bombay, where he was a professor of Sanskrit for a number of years, his interest always remained the theatre

His writings were original and prolific, which made him a trend-setter among Kannada and other Indian writers. His works include twelve novels and a number of scholarly books on the Indian Theatre, on Sanskrit drama, on The Bhagavadgita and a translation of Bharata's Natyasastra; but it was as a dramatist that he made his mark. He has to his credit 47 full-length and 68 One Act plays. Many of his plays have been translated into other Indian languages and have been performed on the stage at major centers in India. His play “Kelu Janmejaya”, translated into Hindi as “Suno Janmejaya” and in many other languages has been performed all over the country. With this play, he set the trend for new techniques and was often called an avant-garde writer

Links - http://www.sriranga-adyarangachar.com

Disclaimer : This is purely a theater interest and appreciation activity and has no commercial relevance whatsoever

Alternate Sunday Play Reading Series

VODOTheatre's Alternate play reading Sessions

In Arrangement with Samuel French, Jagrithi

The play: Can't Pay, Won't Pay

Playwright: Dario Fo

About the play:

Can't Pay? Won't Pay! is an hilarious, sharply satirical take on individual responsibility and politics, challenging today's audience to abandon political cynicism and take to the streets. It depicts working class women who have rebelled against the cost of living by taking goods from a store without paying. The plot concerns their efforts to conceal their bold decisions from their men folk and the police who are - as often in Fo - blundering figures of fun. The dénouement involves characters appearing and disappearing out of windows and doors - the kind of farcical business of which Fo is a master.



Reference - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dario_Fo

Venue:
Alliance Francaise de bangalore
Thimmiah Road, Vasantnagar, Bangalore

Map: http://preview.tinyurl.com/mqtf87

Contact: Yashwanth - 9880426783 | Contactvodo@gmail.com

Disclaimer : This is purely a theater interest and appreciation activity and has no commercial relevance whatsoever.


View Larger Map

We're Back ..

By popular demand, we are staging Six degrees of seperation again, this time on a weekend at Rangashankara

When: 22nd August - 3:30 and 7:30 PM
Where: Rangashankara.

Tickets:
www.indianstage.in

Pictures from our past shows


Created with flickr slideshow.

preview by www.mybangalore.com


About the Play:

In a typical upper middle class household on the East Side of
Manhattan, the Kittredges are busy entertaining an old friend of
theirs ('"A friend from South Africa!") who they hope will lend them
the funds for a major art deal. Just as the three set out for dinner,
they have a surprise visitor - a young black man, who has been stabbed
and is in dire need of some first aid.

The play, set to the tune of a fine cocktail conversation, pieces
together events that happened around this one night. Light, farcical
and yet deeply insightful, John Guare whisks us through several worlds
and moods at breathtaking speed. With every narration the characters
slice through another layer of invisible wall, another degree if you
will, to get closer to solving some nagging mysteries around the young
man.

About the author:

John Guare wrote this award-winning play based on a real event that happened in the late 90s. With creative liberties and crafty use of stage space, Guare gives us a wonderfully imaginative, yet credible story of New Yorkers struggling to stay up the social ladder and yet yearning for that genuine human connection.

Note: This play is suitable only for a mature adult audience.

Sunday Reading

After the marathon shows, we are back to what we do regularly - Reading plays. Drop in to Suchitra film society @ 3 PM on Sunday for a fun filled session of play reading.

We read Girish Karnad's Wedding Album:

"Wedding Album", explores the traditional Indian Wedding in a globalized, technologically advanced India . On the surface it's a familiar picture- a joyful event when members of the clan come together to celebrate and reaffirm loyalties, but behind the picture perfect smiles, simmer long suppressed suspicions, jealousies, frustrations and aggression.

The play deals with a normal urban middle- class family : a daughter who lives abroad with her professional husband, a brother who is a software designer, a younger daughter happy enough to marry a suitable boy from the US she has never met, and then, of course, there is the doting mother and the loyal cook. A family, which is educated, liberal, and modern. Each snapshot shows its members frozen in a projection of respectability, but each figure has a double image, with the shadow of a hidden life.

More information about the author - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girish_Karnad

Venue: Suchitra Film Society
9th Main Rd, Basavangudi, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

Map attached below :-)

View Larger Map

Every person is a new door, opening into other worlds

Version One Dot Oh! (VODO) premieres its latest production -“Six Degrees of Separation across 2 locations in bangalore.

When:
24th and 25th July at Alliance Francaise de Bangalore

28th, 29th and 30th July at Rangashankara.

Tickets:
www.indianstage.in

About the Play:
In a typical upper middle class household on the East Side of
Manhattan, the Kittredges are busy entertaining an old friend of
theirs ('"A friend from South Africa!") who they hope will lend them
the funds for a major art deal. Just as the three set out for dinner,
they have a surprise visitor - a young black man, who has been stabbed
and is in dire need of some first aid.

The play, set to the tune of a fine cocktail conversation, pieces
together events that happened around this one night. Light, farcical
and yet deeply insightful, John Guare whisks us through several worlds
and moods at breathtaking speed. With every narration the characters
slice through another layer of invisible wall, another degree if you
will, to get closer to solving some nagging mysteries around the young
man.

About the author:

John Guare wrote this award-winning play based on a real event that happened in the late 90s. With creative liberties and crafty use of stage space, Guare gives us a wonderfully imaginative, yet credible story of New Yorkers struggling to stay up the social ladder and yet yearning for that genuine human connection.

Note: This play is suitable only for a mature adult audience.

We would be having reading sessions from 3 : 00 PM to 5:30 PM - 12th July.
Where? Suchitra Film Society
36, BV Karanth Road, 9th main, 2nd stage Banashankari

We would be reading Sriranga's "Shadows in the Dark".
Shadows in the dark" is the English translation of Sriranga's renowned play "Kattale Belaku", written in the late 1950s. This play, in a very witty way, deals with the social crisis of man's growing insensitivity and lack of curiousness to things around him, his closed "mind" to others' ideas. The play also wonderfully depicts the need for "theatre" to re-invent new forms to keep the art and society vibrant

Contact: Yashwanth - 9880426783

“Leelantha”

Workshop Productions, bangalore based theatre group started by good friend Harish Sheshadri, is coming up with their fourth theatrical production and their first Kannada Play titled “Leelantha” written by N Sudharshan and directed by Harish Seshadri. The play will be staged on 15th & 16th of July’09 at Rangashankara.

This play was staged in Ninasam on the 10th of May’09 and has received very good feedback from the people there.

Tickets : www.indianstage.in
“Leelantha”, as the name suggests is a story about the happenings in the final hour of Lord Krishna’s life.

It’s been 36 years since the great war of Kurukshetra; the people in Dwaraka are on riots killing their fellow countrymen.Krishna is old; his eyesight is failing and has no strength even to walk a few steps. Unable to bear this animalistic behavior of his people Krishna escapes from the palace and takes refuge in a forest nearby. He is accompanied by his servant Dharuka. He orders his servant to go and get Arjuna, after much reluctance his servant leaves him and goes. At this point a hunter enters the same area of the forest in search of his prey. He accidentally shoots at Krishna thinking that it’s an animal, he is shooting at. But Krishna does not die immediately.
The conversation between Krishna and the Hunter, and what happened after Arjuna came to meet Krishna forms the rest of the story.

About the Director:

Harish Seshadri has been intensively involved with theatre for the past 8 years. His passion for the performing arts even propelled him to take up theatre and acting as a serious career option. He is well versed in all aspects of theatre including Direction, Lighting Design and
Execution; Set Design and Execution etc. He has had the privilege to work under eminent directors like Mr. M S Sathyu, Mr. Prakash Belawadi, Mr.Arjun Sajnani and Mrs. Arundathi Raja.

About the Author:
N Sudharshan, has been actively involved in theatre from his student days, in the 90’s he has done some commendable work in theatre. He started a concept of “Monday Theatre”; performing plays for an intimate audience. Through this he has apart from writing, acted and directed plays like “Gode” (wall), “Simha” (Lion), and several other plays.
He is currently an employee of a software firm in Sydney, Australia. His passion for theatre and Kannada Literature has made him initiate a theatre group in Sydney called “Anivaasi”, through which he continues to follow his passion for the arts by organizing poetry recitals, play performances and other cultural programs. His efforts to uphold Kannada literature across geographical boundaries is truly commendable

Play : Yama Vanquished
Synopsis - Yama Vanquished is a farce in which Yama the God of Death meets his match in a modern day Savithri.

Play : Ramarajya
Synopsis - A political satire - an expose of the sophisticated game we call politics, where nothing changes but the names..

Playwright : Sriranga

Author and Picture Ref : http://www.sriranga-adyarangachar.com/
Disclaimer : This is purely a theater interest and appreciation activity and has no commercial relevance whatsoever.

Date:Sunday, June 28, 2009
Time:3:00pm - 5:00pm
Venue: Suchitra Film Society
36, BV Karanth Road, 9th main, 2nd stage Banashankari
Bangalore, India

Contact: Yashwanth - 9880426783

Venue Direction Map from Rangashankara:

View Larger Map

Sunday Reading Session

We would be having reading sessions from 3 : 00 PM to 5:30 PM tomorrow.
Where? Suchitra Film Society
36, BV Karanth Road, 9th main, 2nd stage Banashankari

The map here gives directions from Rangashankara to Suchitra Film Society.
Contact: Yashwanth - 9880426783

Bangalore, Karnataka
View Larger Map

Silence! The Court is in Session

Tickets: www.indianstage.in

About the play:

Silence! the Court is in Session is a timeless classic, a political and social satire on middle-class society's hypocrisy. Its a telling tale about middle class moralities, exposing the dark side of it and a society where judgments are passed by the minute. This often leaves the defendant nothing but silence as the only course of defense.

With a drama woven into a drama, the play revolves around a theater group about to perform a play in a village. As the plot thickens the comforting mist of 'pretend' starts to dissolve revealing the frustrated, bitter and jaded lives of the performers. A Perfect blend of humour, suspense and drama, Silence! is a play in 3 acts.

About the Director:

Kishore Acharya has been involved with Bangalore theatre for the last 9 years and has been associated in varying capacities with most of the groups here. He has worked with the likes of Prakash Belwadi, Ravi Kumar and Arundhati Raja amongst others on stage. Over the last couple of years, Kishore has played the lead in popular serials such as Humbala (Zee TV), Mugilu (E TV) and Muttinatorana (E TV). Having always been a film buff, movies could not have been far behind. Kishore has also acted in a feature film, Haro Hakkiyanneri and has also directed several documentaries and corporate films.

What a Show !

First of all we'd like to thank everyone who made it to the show and supported us, Its your support and encouragement that helps us get better.

When we decided to stage Silence on May 12th and 13th, a few of us were vary of the fact that it was a weekday, plus with the IPL fever on, we knew it would be a tough ask to get close to a full house. We went ahead without worrying too much about the turn out with the intention to provide a knock out show irrespective of the turnout.

What we saw on 12th and 13th was certainly overwhelming, Near full house shows with about 550 people over 2 days was certainly a big boost to all the actors. Not only did the audience understand the sub text of the play, they were very very involved. One of our favorite moments in the play was when Sukhatme - played by Harish, during his last monologue delivers a statement - " Woman is not fit for independence", A lady sitting in the front row reacts instantly saying " What! ". This happens only when the audience is completely involved in the play and becomes one with the actors on stage.

As the play concluded and the lights dimmed out, A thunderous applause that wouldnt stop until the lights came back for the curtain call. We were extremely humbled when the audience gave us a standing ovation even as the cast and crew were being introduced.

Once again, A big thank you to everyone who made the show a grand success.

A few photographs from the show -

Created with flickr slideshow.

Silence The Court is in Session, May 12th and 13th - Rangashankara

Tickets: www.indianstage.in

About the play:

Silence! the Court is in Session is a timeless classic, a political and social satire on middle-class society's hypocrisy. Its a telling tale about middle class moralities, exposing the dark side of it and a society where judgments are passed by the minute. This often leaves the defendant nothing but silence as the only course of defense.


With a drama woven into a drama, the play revolves around a theater group about to perform a play in a village. As the plot thickens the comforting mist of 'pretend' starts to dissolve revealing the frustrated, bitter and jaded lives of the performers. A Perfect blend of humour, suspense and drama, Silence! is a play in 3 acts. This is our 7th Show of Silence.

The Audience also has a chance to win a 3 day vacation, courtesy, Club Mahindra Holidays.


About the Director:

Kishore Acharya has been involved with Bangalore theatre for the last 9 years and has been associated in varying capacities with most of the groups here. He has worked with the likes of Prakash Belwadi, Ravi Kumar and Arundhati Raja amongst others on stage. Over the last couple of years, Kishore has played the lead in popular serials such as Humbala (Zee TV), Mugilu (E TV) and Muttinatorana (E TV). Having always been a film buff, movies could not have been far behind. Kishore has also acted in a feature film, Haro Hakkiyanneri and has also directed several documentaries and corporate films.

Tickets out for Silence !

There has been a week of silence on the blog after the reading, each one of us are working extra hours for our forthcoming production - Silence the Court Is In Session. They play is being directed by Kishore Acharya, While this is the 5th show overall, we are performing at Rangashankara for the first time.

Having performed most of our plays at Rangashankara, its almost like a place where we grew as actors, grew confident as our productions grew in size. We have staged a play with 28 actors here - In June 2008, we performed Clifford Odets, Waiting for Lefty. We had actors everywhere - on the stage, in the green room, with the audience and a few who enter the play really really late.

We also learnt the art of managing an angry crowd who miss the play by a few minutes, During the early days of Rangashankara, not many were aware of the 7:30 rule, now its heartening to see people line up to watch a play well in advance.

This time around, we have partnered with IndianStage to manage our tickets and use the time to do what we do best:-)

Silence! is a masterpiece by the Late Vijay Tendulkar and we have thoroughly enjoyed giving shape and form to this masterpiece.You can buy tickets from IndianStage here

Play Reading : 19th April 2009

Play : The Cyclist
Playwright : Vijay Tendulkar
Translated by : Balwant Bhaneja
Date : Sunday 19th April 2009
Time : 3PM
Venue : Cubbon Park, King Edward/Press Club Side Entrance
Contact : Vikram Rai - 98455 01929

Synopsis : The Cyclist is a skilfully crafted, uninterrupted, single piece about the adventure of life told through a cyclists journey. Apart from being a journey in geographical terms, it is a psychological exploration of the protagonists mind. (Ref: www.infibeam.com )

Photo Ref : Wikipedia

Disclaimer : This is purely a theater interest and appreciation activity and has no commercial relevance whatsoever.

A day of decisions... Silence ..

Few of us responsible for fun at VODO, met up at cubbon park to review certain activities of this year. The first things was ofcourse to plan a line up of plays this year. So whats on the cards ? More readings, more rehearsals, More plays ... More FUN!

We are repeating one of our most successful shows, Vijay Tendulkar's, Silence the court is in Session. The when and where will be posted in a few days. We are going to have auditions, as soon as we draw up a production plan.

We first performed this show to a packed audience in April 2008 at Alliance Francaise and got a phenomenal response, most of whom had watched, read the play in different languages. This infact gave us enough reasons to repeat it, We were supposed to repeat this play on July 25th 2008, but this happened. We had to postpone the show by a week and we were very thankful to the audience who came out in large numbers to support us.

We have completed four shows of this play and we plan to reach double figures this year. A slideshow of our previous productions.


Created with flickr slideshow.

Reading that was...

We Had a blast reading Jake's Women, ended up being attended by quite a good number of Vodo'ites. The play was a typical Neil Simon Play, with its wit, sarcastic sense of humor, The play is about the protagonist writer -Jake, his many failed relationships, the baggage he carries from them and his dependence on each of those relationship.

More information on Jake's Women here -


What started off as a warm, sunny afternoon morphed into a cool, breezy typical Bangalore evening by the time we finished.

On another note,We might be moving the reading venue to a different, to a slightly more south Bangalore location. More on that in a few days.

We might also be having auditions for "Silence the Court is in Session" , soon. Will def keep this space posted.

Few photographs from our earlier shows of Silence, till then :-)

Clearing the dust,

Its been a while since there has been any activity on the blog, but it doesn't mean that nothings cooking at VODO.There are lots of master plans being brewed and soon you will see us more often and more ways than one.

Be ready to laugh, cry, dance and get crazy with us in 2009, it sure is going to be the start of a brand new Version one dot oh ... lets just say .. version 2 of VODO :-)

As a start, we are reading new plays every alternate Sunday, the place and time are fixed, its at Cubbon Park, on the steps in front of the Kings statue. An easier way to get here is to get into Cubbon park from the Minsk square ( The circle having the fighter plane :-)) side and park your vehicles. In case you are interested, feel free to drop in.

We are working on a few productions and also planning to repeat our past productions, lets just say, this year is going to be bigger, better and crazier :-)