Shankar Nag Theatre Awards
Instituted on 9 Nov 2014 to commemorate Shankar Nag’s 60th birthday, the Shankar Nag Theatre Award is presented to a young theatre maker who embodies service to theatre. The award is given away on the last day of the annual Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival.
2014 ABHISHEK MAJUMDAR
Starting his theatre career around the time that Ranga Shankara was born 10 years ago, Abhishek is the playwright of more than a dozen plays. Exploring diverse political histories, and often vaulting across different cultural geographies and epochs, his ambitious plays have told an incredible range of stories – about the Partition of India, suicide bombers in Sri Lanka, asylum seekers from Bangladesh, Pakistani immigrants in London, and the scarring of young lives in Kashmir, among others. Abhishek has worked not only in theatre but also for theatre. What has mattered is not just his personal ambition and passion as a theatre artiste, but also the large context in which theatre functions in India. Indian Ensemble, his brainchild, while building a substantial repertoire of productions in Hindi and English, has also worked tirelessly to provide exposure, mentoring and training to a slew of younger playwrights, actors and directors who are now finding a voice of their own. Abhishek has a temperament one trusts in an artiste – always searching, always restless, always full of questions, questions about his own work and about theatre at large. Above all, he is able to mobilize people around him. He is, in this respect, much like Shankar Nag, a true Rangakarmi, serving the theatre. He is most deserving of the first Shankar Nag Theatre Award.
2015 MOHIT TAKALKAR
Mohit Takalkar has emerged as one of the finest Indian theatre directors of his generation. He has directed more than 20 full-length plays, demonstrating an ability to make audiences view new dramatic texts as if they were classics, and traditional performance Idioms and mythological themes as if they were contemporary. His professionally- mounted productions have been admired for their technical finesse and arresting visual design. Mohit is a fresh and influential voice in Marathi theatre also for giving new meaning to the word 'experimental'. For too long, theatre in Marathi has been called 'experimental merely for engaging with serious themes in opposition to commercial theatre. Mohit, however, is rare in being a genuinely risk-taking director, who has worked with a spirit of adventure to extend the language of theatre in India. Equally notable are Mohit's endeavours, as the Artistic Director of Aasakta Kalamanch in Pune, to support the aspirations and nurture the talent of a younger group of directors. In this he has shown that his passion for drama extends beyond his own artistic ambitions to embrace a deep concern for the future of meaningful theatre in India. It is for these reasons that we believe that he is a deserving recipient of the Shankar Nag Theatre Award for 2015.
2016 QUASAR THAKORE PADAMSEE
Quasar Thakore Padamsee, or simply Q as he is known, is quite the example of a successful young theatre worker. Born to senior theatre practitioners who have contributed greatly to theatre in urban India, Quasar took to theatre like fish to water. Patience and calm are the hallmark of this soft-spoken young director. His relentless pursuit of theatre through channels that are trailblazing, like the Thespo which brings youngsters together to think, live and make dreams into reality, is a sterling quality that singularly distinguishes him. Born on August 20, 1978, Quasar began theatre while still at college. In 1999, along with four college friends, he founded Q Theatre Productions. Since then has directed and produced over 20 plays, the most significant being the long running Khatijabal of Karmali Terrace, Project S-T-R-I-P, A Peasant of El Salvador and So Many Socks. The annual Thespo Festival, now in its 18th year is for people below 25. As a concept and festival Thespo has consistently grown, with each year adding on new geographies, dimensions and people. Quasar's unflinching faith in the concept ensures that the festival finds new ways of fundraising to keep the show on. Quasar has also enlivened Mumbai's theatre life by opening up new, informal spaces for plays that have pushed thematic and formal boundaries. That he does all this selflessly, quietly, with an intent to freely share what comes to him and putting theatre above all else, make him truly stand out as a leader. It is for these reasons we believe he deserves the Shankar Nag Award 2016
2017 ANURUPA ROY
Anurupa Roy has breathed life into matter. This is an endeavour that every artiste aspires for and yet is eventually available to very few with great determination and self assurance. Anurupa’s work is a metaphor. It stands for many things. It stands for the ability to challenge the status quo of our perception of the arts, and take puppetry to be a form not just for children but for people of all ages telling the most intense and deep of tales. It stands for the road less taken. It stands for the ability to organise and inspire. The ability to not succumb to any external force other than one’s own immense desire to create something original and meaningful. It also stands for a vision that is often ascribed to a person like Shankar Nag, in whose name this award is being conferred. In her illustrious career, Anurupa has taken her art to new heights, created new artistes, new audiences, new forms and new possibilities for puppetry. She has received several awards, performed extensively both nationally and internationally with her company Katkatha and set up the Katkatha Studio in Delhi. She is a visiting faculty and research fellow in puppet schools around the world. Significantly, a major aspect of her work includes using puppetry for psycho-social interventions in youngsters in conflict areas like Kashmir, Sri Lanka and Manipur. It is for her pathbreaking work, not only in her performances but in her chosen field and for her immense contribution to the world of theatre, that Ranga Shankara is proud to award her the Shankar Nag Theatre Award 2017.
2018 TORAL SHAH
In the theatre, and indeed in the Arts and Media world as a whole, it is known that there are people who work tirelessly behind the scenes to ensure that the play or film or concert or (in today's world) web series, goes off smoothly and in accordance with the creator's vision. Toral Shah has worked backstage and as an administrator for all her adult life, starting from college productions at St. Xavier's, Bombay. In the course of the twenty or more years since, she has managed, designed and toured with productions of all sizes and scales, curated festivals, nurtured Thespa into its tweens and furthered the cause of theatre with her own company, QTP Entertainment and with several others. Her skills, the ones she taught herself because that's what Managers in the Arts do, include graphic design (several posters, ads, leaflets, brochures and what have you are her handiwork), fund raising, art direction (for plays, events and the rest) and budgeting. These in addition to being a planner par excellence and possessing a cool head under pressure-hallmarks of a solid Arts Manager. Some of the productions she has been closely involved with are Nirbhaya (India UK, 2013) Maya-the Musical (Indo-US, 2014) as Project Manager, Tim Supple's A Midsummer Night's Dream (which toured India, USA, Canada, Australia, UK and Italy) as Stage Manager, Iron (Produced by RAGE, directed by Arghya Lahiri, 2017) as Production Designer.In addition, Toral is a founder member and Director of GTP Entertainment, a founder member and Art Director of Thespo and is founder member and Managing Trustee of SPACE Society for Performing Arts Creation and Education. She has been instrumental in the staging of over 40 productions, 20 editions of Thespo the Festival and has trained and guided several youngsters in Management and Administration in theatre. Ranga Shankara is glad to award her with the Shankar Nag Award 2018 for her continuous and compelling work in lifting performances and people to a higher standard.
2019 SANKAR VENKATESWARAN
Sankar Venkateswaran is one of the most important young theatre makers, whose unique work has been acclaimed both within and outside the country. Born in Calicut, Kerala, he graduated from the School of Drama and Fine Arts, Calicut University and then the Intercultural Theatre Institute, Singapore. In 2007, he founded his own theatre company – ‘Theatre Roots and Wings’. His productions of ‘Quick Death’, ‘Sahyante Makan: The Elephant Project’, ‘The Water Station’, ‘101 Lullabies’ and Henrik Ibsen’s ‘When We Dead Awaken’ stand testimony to the range and versatility of his directorial ventures. In 2013, he was awarded the prestigious Ibsen Scholarship for his Tribal Ibsen Project in which he worked with the indigenous communities of Kerala. As part of a larger mission of life, he has built a theatre space in Attappady in order to live and work with tribals. He has also directed plays for the Volkstheater, Munich. His experience of world theatre and an astute sense of judgement made his contributions to International Theatre Festival of Kerala in 2015 and 2016 invaluable. He has also taught at the University of Tokyo, Shinshu University, Nagano, and National School of Drama, New Delhi. Sankar Venkateswaran has extended the boundaries of theatre and performance by discovering new languages of theatrical expression, formulating different structures of performance space, and taking theatre to the most outlying and improbable of contexts. For him, the theatre is a democratic arena where everyone engaged in the creative enterprise, including the audience, is mutually challenged. His work continuously questions established geo-cultural assumptions and turns the theatre into a meeting place of diverse cultures, languages, philosophies and beliefs. For these reasons, we believe Sankar Venkateswaran deserves the Shankar Nag Award for Young Theatre Worker for 2019.
2020 NEEL CHAUDHURI
Neel Chaudhuri is a multifaceted theatre personality—a playwright, director, designer and teacher. As the founder and artistic director of The Tadpole Repertory, he has led a one-of-a-kind theatre collective based in Delhi, with a history of productions bearing an unmistakable signature. Neel’s playwriting has anchored and accounts for the singularity of much of The Tadpole Repertory’s work. His plays capture the vulnerability of ordinary people, their sense of helplessness, confusion and inadequacy. The subtle tension and interplay he achieves between words, actions and silences lend his best work an uncanny tactile quality. Ranga Shankara is delighted to add to the accolades that Neel Chaudhuri has already earned and richly deserved by conferring on him the Shankar Nag Theatre Award for 2020.
2021 VIVEK MADAN
Curious about “extra-curricular” activities from a very young age, Vivek Madan started raising his hand for every announcement that was made in class! The magic of Theatre swept him off his feet when he got involved in Thespo - A Youth Theatre Movement, when he was 20. Since then, Vivek has made theatre his life, emerging as a rare talent on the firmament. He is an Actor, Director and most of all, a role model theatre manager. In his illustrious journey so far, Vivek has been associated with several theatre organisations in various capacities: Thespo, Jagriti Theatre, Ranga Shankara, The Writers’ Bloc, Indian Ensemble, Bhasha Centre for Performing Arts (of which he is a Founder and currently Director). He excels in planning complex festivals and events, curating interesting content, fundraising, training, and most of all, executing every activity meticulously. Another outstanding quality that Vivek has, is being open to, and eager in fact, to learn and adapt to innovations. These could be technology/ digital mediums, a new way of doing things, an interesting new concept of theatre making; Vivek laps them all up, unafraid of taking a leap that challenges an old canon. Given all his exposure and contributions to path-breaking events so far, it is not surprising that Vivek is full of ideas for theatre’s future – a digital library of unpublished plays, a network of teachers, parents, students and theatre makers, nurturing of Radio/ audio plays, and more. His growth in theatre has been commendable and the promise he holds for its future is indeed something we all look forward to. For these reasons, Vivek Madan is being awarded the Shankar Nag Theatre Award for 2021.
2022 NIMMY RAPHAEL
Nimmy Raphael is one of Indian theatre’s multi-faceted young talents. She effortlessly wears many hats - Managing Trustee of Adishakti Laboratory for Theatre Arts and Research, actor, trained in the classical form Mohiniattam and Kalaripayattu, musician, director, writer, teacher, and a practioner-consultant – and does it all to great perfection and with panache. As an electric presence on stage in many plays by one of modern India’s finest directors, Veenapani Chawla (Ganapati, Brhannala, The Hare and the Tortoise, the Tenth Head, etc.,) Nimmy has toured the globe. As a writer and director, Nimmy’s growing repertoire includes much appreciated plays like Nidrawathwam and Bali. As a teacher, she is a part of the team that designs and runs the most sought-after theatre workshops of the country, at Adishakti. As the Managing Trustee of Adishakti, she helms, in addition to all the administrative tasks of the institution, the eclectic annual festival, “Remembering Veenapani”, which has over the last few years, become one of the important celebrations of theatre in India. As a consultant, she is invited to many universities where her plays are studied and debated by students. The combination of attention to solid training, excellence in performance, keen interest and capability to execute administrative functions, and an innate interest and ability to teach and take youngsters along with her, makes her a deserving candidate for the Shankar Nag Theatre Award 2022.
2022 SHARANYA RAMPRAKASH
Sharanya Ramprakash’s career in theatre is an interesting mélange of pursuits defined in making meaningful theatre with a diverse set of people on whose lives theatre makes an impact. Sharanya started her theatre career in 2006 as a Co-founder of Dramanon, a theatre troupe from Bangalore that now produces new writing. She has trained in the traditional theatre form of Yakshagana. With the landmark play "Akshayambara" that explores gender bias embedded in the practice of traditional performance art practice, Sharanya quickly went on to carve a niche for herself as a young and talented director and actor. The play went on to win some key awards in the theatre world. “Nava” is one of her directorial ventures that stands out for the unique collaboration it brought together. Sharanya featured nine transwomen, helping them and the society to reflect upon issues and circumstances not commonly explored. Her search and sustained engagement with inclusivity is important for the growth of theatre. For her enterprising and purposeful engagement with theatre, Sharanya Ramprakash deserves the Shankar Nag Theatre Award 2022.
2023 LAKSHMAN KP
