About
Prasanna is a major Indian theatre director and playwright from Karnataka and one of the pioneers of modern Kannada theatre. A National School of Drama graduate and Sangeet Natak Akademi awardee, he founded the radical theatre movement Samudaya and has long linked his stage work with social and Gandhian action.
Born in 1951 in Karnataka and trained at the National School of Drama, Prasanna gave creative direction to Kannada theatre in the 1970s and, during the Emergency, founded Samudaya, a radical theatre movement that took street and protest plays to workers and villages. He has taught, directed acclaimed productions, based himself in Heggodu, and integrated theatre with Gandhian social and economic activism, receiving the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award.
The artistry
Prasanna is known for organisational vision and innovation in theatre, and for a body of well-regarded stage productions, including Tughlaq and Gandhi. Beyond the proscenium, he pioneered street, protest and people's theatre in villages, and has connected theatre to movements for labour, sustainability and rural livelihood.
[Atlas Perspective] Prasanna is a pioneering, socially committed theatre director of real stature. For festivals and cultural or development programmes, he is a first-rank choice.
Prasanna is among the architects of modern Kannada theatre and of India's radical people's-theatre movement, linking the stage to social, labour and Gandhian causes and inspiring generations of politically committed theatre-makers.