Hyderabad-based Nishumbita Group to stage ‘Golconda’ which merges puppetry, Kuchipudi and theater
This weekend, 18 actors from Hyderabad-based Nishumbita Theater Group will play a total of 182 characters in 90 minutes to narrate the origins of the Golconda kingdom and other stories related to it.
presentation, title Golconda, Puppetry will incorporate traditional art forms of Telangana such as Bura Katha, Dappu dance and Perini along with Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam.
Rammohan Hollagundi, founder-director of Nishumbita, says that theatrical production combines dance ballet and docudrama.
“One wonders what else to discover about Golconda Fort,” says Hollagundi. “The production journey, however, took us to lesser-known stories.”
Golconda was earlier called gola konda, in the name of the shepherds (gololu Discovery of the Hill (in Telugu)conda), after discovering a deity. “Golconda Looks at the origin story of the state, tracing the rise of the Asif Jahi dynasty, before Ibrahim Quli Qutb Shah’s romance with Bhagmati, Jamshed Quli Qutb Shah’s quest for power, the construction of the Charminar, how Hyderabad was affected by the plague (1911) in) and more.”
During the pandemic, members of Nishumbita began research for production. Elderly men and women aged 85 and above who lived around the fort shared stories they had heard while growing up.
Archival books were referred and historians and academics were consulted to verify the facts. “We didn’t want to be wrong with history. There were cases of date mismatch and we went through further rounds of verification. We did not limit ourselves to the internet,” says Hollagundi.
The research also brought up lesser known facts. For example, the Musi river was earlier called Narva.
Golconda Shaped as a production that guaranteed multiple sets, props and lights. “Twenty-five of us, including the technical team, have been rehearsing for more than two months,” says Hollagundi.
Soon after the first wave of COVID-19, Nishumbita staged street plays in villages near Yadadri, following which they were staged. Jungle Book, A Doll’s House And amma redmma in Hyderabad. After the second wave, the group staged a biopic of biochemist Yelapragada Subbarao, written by iconic filmmaker Singetam Srinivasa Rao.
Together GolcondaNishumbita hopes that Hyderabad theater lovers will come back to patronize stage plays.
(Golconda will be staged on October 2 and 3; At 7 pm, at Nishumbita School of Drama, Begumpet. Tickets worth ₹ 100 can be purchased from Google Pay number 7995556341.
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