Girish Karnad elected world theatre ambassador

August 18, 2008

UNESCO’s International Theatre Institute has elected renowned playwright and actor Girish Karnad as one of the world theatre ambassadors.

About a dozen artists including British theatre and film director Peter Brook, Italian playwright Dario Fo, French theatrical legend Ariane Mnouchkine and German choreographer Pina Bausch were given this honor.

For four decades Karnad has been composing plays, often using history and mythology to tackle contemporary issues. He is also well known in the world of Indian cinema as an actor, director, and screenwriter, earning numerous awards along the way. His plays, originally in Kannada, have been translated and produced in English and several major Indian languages. He is the latest of seven recipients of Jnanpith Award for Kannada, the highest literary honor conferred in India. Karnad has been honoured with Sangeet Natak Akademi (1972), Padma Shri (1974) and Padma Bhusan (1992).

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