The
Story of Raayakote 1858
A play in
Kannada about the incidents which shook Rayokote in 1858. The
story of broken heart, betrayal, murder, conspiracy and mystery.
The East India Company was spreading its tentacles in southern
India weakening and winning over the small territories and
kingdoms. British had employed many Indians into their army and
they were called Sipoy or Siphahi’s. The Rayakotta fort was their
priced possession and was still mapping and documenting the area
after their victory. The story happens in 1855 when a British
officer Sir Ronald McCoy was posted to survey and map the whole
territory. There is a young and talented Indian Subeidar
Rajavardhana, from his regiment with whom Mary falls in love. They
marry in Indian tradition and it is not accepted by Ronald & plots
to get him killed, since he doesn’t want to get hit hands dirty &
make Mary upset of his actions. He sends him with 4 other Sipoy’s
inside the fort and as per his plot no one returns. The haunted
fort from then on killed every one who ventures inside & the
midnight screams of “where is my family” continued. Two new
sentries get posted at the fort & they consider Rajavardhana as
their fallen leader. They interrogate the murder & figure out that
Mary is now in Raya Vellore living in memory of his love. The way
they figure out the murder is the crux of the play.
Direction, Conceptualisation & Ideation: P D Sathish Chandra
Directors Note
I
happen to be an avid reader of Indian history from my school days
and off late have been following Rare Book Society of India and
their captivating stories from History. This particular story of
the Raykotta Fort captivated my attention and it fascinated my
imagination to another level. After many sleepless nights I
finally conceptualised a play and discussed with my team. We at
Pra.Ka.Sam after our successful horror venture “13 Margosa
Mahal” were looking for another production which is slightly more
serious and realistic. This stuck like a knife on the bull's-eye
and we unanimously agreed to create a play around it. The original
concept was the theme of the play but to introduce dramatic vanity
we introduced a small love story and completed the story line.
This am sure would be the greatest creative adventure, we at
Pra.Ka.Sam have encountered so far.
What I have noted largely in the past five years is that there is
a fixed set of audiences for both Kannada & English theatre
productions. Wherever there is a production we have the same set
of audiences watching the play at different venues and more than
70% of the audience is repeated. This is not an encouraging
development for healthy theatre, as we are not adding new
audiences. This also stands out as the main difference between
theatre in Bangalore and in other theatre-rich cities. As an old
school theatre enthusiast, just mentioning or discussing this
point was not enough for me. I felt a need and desire to do
something about bringing back the masses into theatre. I was once
advised by an avid theater lover who quoted "other large
theatre groups are staging the same old Shakespeare, Karnad,
Karanth and the likes. Why cant anyone or even you for that matter
bring in a change??" My discussions with various theatre
groups and eminent personalities led me to figure out a way for
myself, so started Pra.Ka.Sam & my productions to be staged at
KH Kala Soudha &
around the state.
P D Sathish
Chandra