Film director, actor, and playwright Girish Karnad has been selected for the Ammannur Madhava Chakyar award instituted by the Kerala Sangeeta Nataka Akademi.
The award, which carries a purse of ₹3 lakh, was instituted by the akademi in 2010. However, it was stopped after a few years. The akademi resumed it last year.
“Guru Ammannur Madhava Chakyar was one of the stalwarts of renaissance in Koodiyattam, an extant form of Sankrit theatre tradition in India. And the award in his name is one of the prestigious prizes in the theatre field,” akademi secretary N. Radhakrishnan Nair said.
Cultural Affairs Minister A.K. Balan will present the award to Mr. Karnad at the International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) on January 26.
Palestine, Year – Zero will be the opening drama of the 10th edition of ITFoK, with the theme ‘reclaiming the margins’.
It will be a platform for voices, people, and ideas, which are suppressed, dismissed or otherwise undervalued. In total, 33 plays will be staged at the festival, of which 16 will be performed by international theatre groups.
