Satish Alekar

Satish Alekar, author of Marathi plays like Mahanirvan (1974), Micky ani Memsahib (1973), Mahapoor (The deluge-1975), Doosra Samana(1989), Begum Barve (1979), Shaniwar - Raviwar (1980) etc. is practicing theatre in Maharashtra since 1971. He is one of the founder members of India's best-known theatre group Theatre Academy, Pune that he administered from 1973 to 92. Many of his plays have been translated and produced in several regional languages all over India. With his plays like Mahanirvan (1974) and Begum Barve (1979) he created new idiom in Marathi theatre by his unique use of black humor, language and absurdity to convey the oblique sense of reality. He also authored several short plays that are extensively staged by the experimental theatre groups all over Maharashtra for past thirty years. He recently completed his new full-length play "Pidhijat" (Dynasts) which was staged in Bengali in Calcutta (April 2003) and in Marathi in Pune, (May 2003.)
Satish Alekar conceived and successfully implemented programmes like Playwrights Development Scheme and Regional Theater Group Development, which were supported, by the Ford Foundation for Theatre Academy, Pune since 1985 to 1994. He has extensively traveled abroad and during January-May 2003 he was adjunct professor at Performance Studies, Tisch School of Arts, New York University as a Fulbright Scholar. He also was at the Duke University, N.C., U.S.A. on adjunct teaching assignment during spring 1995 semester. He lectured on Contemporary Indian Theatre at the several universities in U.S.
Satish Alekar is the recipient of several National and State awards since 1973 for his contribution to the field of Theatre and Literature. He received Nandikar Sanman at Calcutta in 1992 and fellowships from the Asian Cultural Council, New York in 1983 to study Theatre in U. S. and from the Ford Foundation to study Theatre of South Asia in 1988. He received National Award for the playwriting in 1994-95 from Sangeet Natak Akademi, Delhi. He scripted the national award winning Marathi feature film Jait Re Jait in 1977 and directed a Hindi T.V. Serial in 13 parts Dekho Magar Pyarse for Doordarshan in 1985. He also scripted the dialogues for Marathi feature film Katha Don Ganpatravanchi produced by N.F.D.C. in 1995-96. He was invited to participate in ODIN THEATRE week by Eugenio Barba at Odin Teatret, Holstebro, Denmark in August 2002. He participated in the 12th ISTA's International Theatre workshop conducted by Eugenio Barba in Germany in September 2001 and in Eugene O'Neill Theatre Centre's Playwrights Conference in Connecticut (U.S.) in 1992. He participated in the World Theatre Congress of I.T.I. (UNESCO, Paris) held in Berlin in 1983 and Athens (Greece) in 2002 where he is nominated as a board member of the International Playwrights Forum.
His published plays are available with Neelkanth Prakashan, Pune (in Marathi) and Seagull Book, Calcutta (in English). Many of his plays have been translated, produced and published in several Indian regional languages like: Hindi, Tamil, Dogri, Kannada, Gujarathi, Rajasthani, Punjabi, and Konkni. His plays also included in the National Anthologies published by the National School of Drama and Sahitya Akademi, Delhi published in 2000-01.
Satish Alekar has also collaborated in several international translation projects. He freely translated and directed short plays by German Playwright Tankred Dorst (for Goethe Institute, Pune) in 1980; play "The Flood" by Gunter Grass in 1980 (for Goethe Institute, Pune), Two short plays by Egyptian playwright Dr. Alfred Farag, Cairo (in association with American University in Cairo) in 2001.
Prof. Alekar served many cultural organizations, institutes and universities like Bharat Bhavan, Sangeet Natak Akademi, Delhi, National School of Drama, University Grants Commission, Delhi, S.N.D.T. University, Shivaji University as advisor member of the committees. He is Govt. of India nominee on the society for the National School of Drama, Delhi and also nominated as the Vice Chairman, NSD. (2001-5). He is also a member of the Theatre Advisory committee of Sangeet Natak Akademi, Delhi since 2001.


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