He has created work as a writer, musician, actor, and director, thereby displaying an exceptional ability to be dexterous and ambitious in his craft.
This year’s Shankar Nag Award was given to theatre person Lakshman K.P. on Wednesday at the Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival 2023 – Narratives & Narratives.
Lakshman is known to have created a rich and important oeuvre of theatre work over the last decade. Since graduating from Ninasam, Heggodu, he has gone on to train at the Intercultural Theatre Institute in Singapore and lived up to the high standards of both institutions.
He has created work as a writer, musician, actor, and director, thereby displaying an exceptional ability to be dexterous and ambitious in his craft. His theatre is deeply rooted in the cultural and social world of his practice and at the same time speaks clearly and powerfully to the world at large.
The award comes as another feather in his cap, as Lakshman’s recent play Dakla Katha Devi Kavya also earned laurels at the META Awards 2023.
‘Happy and humbled’
“I am very happy, humbled and thankful to Ranga Shankara for honouring me with this award. Just as special as it makes me feel, it is equally scary because feeling special is not a privilege in India. As much as this award means to me, I do not want the award to let me forget about the whole ecosystem around me. There have been theatre teams, institutions, audience, my schooling and my family that have all contributed to the award that I have received today, and they will continue to be my backbone,” he said.
When asked how the young director has seen success in the theatre world, Lakshman says, “I do not know how success is measured, but I agree that my work has been recognised. I am an actor, and I train actors. However, due to certain circumstances, I forced myself to get into direction, and I stand here today. I enjoy working with actors, and the fact that I consider acting an important form of craft is one of the many reasons actors in my plays are also being recognised. The curiosity I have on learning more about the craft of acting and how the process of my work with actors has evolved over the years could be the reason behind my work being recognised.“
Instituted on November 9, 2014, to commemorate late Kannada theatre and filmmaker Shankar Nag’s 60th birthday, The Shankar Nag Award is presented to a young theatremaker for service to theatre. The award is given away on the last day of the annual Ranga Shankara Theatre Festival to an exceptional theatremaker below the age of 40. Over the years, the award has been given to prominent young theatre makers of the country like Abhishek Majumdar, Mohit Takalkar, Quasar Thakore Padamsee, Anurupa Roy, Toral Shah, Sankar Venkateswaran, Neel Chaudhuri, Vivek Madan, Nimmy Raphel and Sharanya Ramprakash.
source/content: thehindu.com (headline edited)