Punaha Theater’s ‘Angaara’ stages at Bengaluru festival

Bengaluru: Udupi-based Punaha Theater staged Usha Kattemane’s Angaara recently at the Prestige Centre for Performing Arts in Bengaluru. Directed by Abhinav Grover, the play was presented as part of the 2026 Girish Karnad Fellowship programme during the Chiguru & Kusumale Theatre Festival organised by Samagata Foundation and Bhasha Centre.

Through Angaara, Punaha Theater combines local performance traditions with multilingual dramaturgical approaches and social-political criticism. The production examines the long-term consequences of the caste system in coastal Karnataka.

“Writing from a safe space is the easier path. But I like challenges. They keep a writer alive. That is why I tried to create a play that reflect the contemporary life of Tulunadu,” the Playwright’s note reads.