Story of two friends, Kapila and Devadatta, and a girl Padmini. Friendship is undivided, irrespective of occupation and cast. However, a girl in their lives torments the life of duo. The central idea behind the two-hour play is the dilemma that what does one love in someone? Do we love their mind, or their heart?
Writer
Girish Karnad was an eminent playwright, actor, film director, and screenwriter who worked primarily in Kannada and Hindi. He became a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford (1960–63), where he studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. Karnad revitalized Indian theatre by blending mythology, history, and folklore with contemporary concerns such as identity, power, and social conflict. His landmark plays include Yayati, Tughlaq, Hayavadana, Nagamandala, Tale-Danda, The Fire and the Rain, Broken Images, and Boiled Beans on Toast. As an actor, he appeared in several acclaimed films. He also directed notable films such as Vamsha Vriksha, Kaadu, Ondanondu Kaladalli, and Utsav. Karnad held prestigious positions including Director of FTII and Chairman of Sangeet Natak Akademi. Honored with the Jnanpith Award, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, and Sahitya Akademi Award, his legacy continues to shape Indian cultural history.
Director
Babukodi Venkataramana Karanth (1929–2002), popularly known as B. V. Karanth, was a pioneering Indian theatre personality, film director, playwright, actor, composer, and one of the stalwarts of Parallel Cinema. An alumnus of the National School of Drama (NSD, 1962), he later served as its director and played a crucial role in decentralizing theatre by taking it to remote parts of India. Along with his wife Prema Karanth, he founded the Bengaluru-based theatre group Benaka. Karanth directed many plays in Kannada, Hindi, and several other Indian languages, with landmark productions such as Jokumara Swamy, Sankranti, Hayavadana, Oedipus, Macbeth, and King Lear. He also headed Rangmandal in Bhopal and founded Rangayana in Mysore. Honored with the Padma Shri, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, and multiple National Film Awards, Karanth remains a towering figure in Indian theatre history.
Director’s Note
The central idea behind the two-hour play is the dilemma that what does one love in someone? Do we love their mind, or their heart? Here heart stands representative of the body, the tangible while the head represents the intangible, wisdom, poetry call it what you please. It is a snare of entangled relationships. Hayavadana is scripted by Dr. Girish Karnad who has rendered rich literature and directed by the theatre legend B.V. Karanth with lilting music. Continuing the legacy of Benaka, founded by B.V. Karanth, Hayavadana has been staged in Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Goa and all over Karnataka in many festivals. Well defined lighting, ethnic sets and apt costumes designed by Smt. Prema Karanth are used in performance.
Group
Founded in June 1974 by legendary theatre pioneer B. V. Karanth, Benaka (Bengalooru Nagara Kalavidaru) is known for staging socially and culturally relevant Kannada plays, Benaka has presented major productions such as Sattavara Neralu, Hayavadana, Jo Kumaraswamy, Tabarana Kathe, Hamlet, and Gokula Nirgamana, among many others. The troupe has also collaborated on productions like Romeo Juliet in Kannada. Committed to preserving Karanth’s theatrical legacy, Benaka established “Guru Karantha Ranga Shala” and continues to promote theatre culture through festivals, conferences, and international tours, including performances in the USA. Group’s recent productions are Manto by Manto, Harishchandra Kavya, Bheemayana, and the biographical play Baba Karantha, and the grand musical Vidya Sundari Bengaluru Nagarathnamma, directed by T. S. Nagabharana.