The Eleventh Dr Ashok Da Ranade Memorial Lecture
8 ½ Reasons Why We Need Playwrights Today
Speaker: Ramu Ramanathan
(Well-known playwright, author, and poet)
Date: December 13, 2022 | Time: 6.30-8 pm ISTMeeting ID: 205 082 4358 | Passcode: ranade
About the speaker
Playwright Ramu Ramanathan’s plays Cotton 56 Polyester 84, Mahadevbhai, Comrade Kumbhakarna, The Diary of a Word, Jazz … have been performed in multiple languages in India and elsewhere.
He has three books to his credit. 3 Sakina Manzil And Other Plays which is a collection of eight plays. And, two collections of poems, My Encounters with a Peacock and To Sit on A Stone – And Other Shorts. Currently, he is working on his fourth book which is based on his theatre experiences in Mumbai. In addition, he regularly pens columns for newspapers.
He has also co-edited Book Binding with Adhesives and Babri Masjid, 25 Years …As editor of the magazines, PrintWeek and WhatPackaging? Ramanathan has been associated with the print industry for 30 years.
He is most likely to be cheering for Fulham Football Club in his free time.
About the lecture
- Playwriting has always been optimistic.
- Some of the great classics ooze with humanism – and at times even a war cry against the times.
- At the turn of the 21st century, the playwright is huffing and puffing. The playwright is unable to see much of what is transpiring (or make sense of the events).
- And yet we need this species.
- This is a good time to pause and consider: 8½ Reasons Why We Need Playwrights Today
- With 8 ½ examples, the talk will look at playwrights and plays plus the cultural politics of the 21st century.
- How to create art under repressive regimes?
- How to dodge censorship and bans?
- And, in a sense, how to dialogue with each other?
- After all, that’s what great playwrights have always done.