Nirdiganta: A first-of-its-kind incubation centre for theatre  Premium

Prakash Raj’s ‘Nirdiganta’ is an innovative incubator for theatre and arts

‘Nirdiganta,‘ the brain child of actor Prakash Raj, is an innovative incubation centre for theatre and arts situated in K Shetihalli, a village in Srirangapatana. The incubator’s inaugural production is a Kannada play, that will be performed across the globe. 

A team of 15 artistes from across Karnataka will be the first to showcase the incubator’s vast potential with Gayagalu (Wounds), a thoughtfully crafted play directed by Shripad Bhatt.

Nirdiganta surpasses the conventional role of assisting theatre teams in securing a production space; it takes comprehensive responsibility for the entire production process — set design, props and costumes, and compensates the dedicated actors and technicians with a stipend for their efforts. The centre also offers a lodging facility, a kitchen and tech support for the teams that would be utilising the space. 

Speaking to TH, Preethi Nagaraj, the creative director of Nirdiganta says, “This is a theatre-in-residence, where a team can come in with a director and use the infrastructure for the entire production process. However, the only condition we have is that it must be a new play, and not something that has been produced by the team already.” 

“Nirdiganta aims to not just provide a space to create a new piece of art, but also stipends for the artists and produce the play. Everything from the sets, props, costumes, make-up and technical requirements will be taken care of by us. The production will be under the banner of the centre for a certain number of shows. Once the contract has ended, the team is free to perform the play wherever they want to and can take all the materials required for the play with them,” Preethi added.  

The centre will hold multiple talks, book releases and ancillary events to augment the play, wherever it will be performed. The incubation centre also plans to promote other art forms in the future. .