About
Waman Kendre is an eminent Indian theatre director and academic, honoured with the Padma Shri, who served as Director of the National School of Drama from 2013 to 2018. From a nomadic Vanjara tribal community and a leading light of the Dalit theatre movement, he is known for fusing folk forms with contemporary stagecraft.
Born to a farmer in Beed district, Maharashtra, in the nomadic Vanjara community, Waman Kendre trained at the National School of Drama with post-graduate research in the folk theatre of Kerala, and became a leading figure in the Dalit theatre movement of the late 1970s. He founded the theatre group Rangpeeth, taught and led drama institutions, directed widely, served as Director of the NSD (2013-2018), and received the Padma Shri in 2019.
The artistry
Kendre's theatre draws on his research into the folk performance of Kerala and Maharashtra and on the energy of movement, rhythm and music, applied to social and classical themes. His acclaimed productions, such as Mohe Piya, combine folk vitality with disciplined ensemble craft and a strong social conscience.
[Atlas Perspective] Waman Kendre is a distinguished theatre director, folk-theatre scholar and former NSD head. For festivals and cultural or academic programmes, he is a first-rank choice.
Waman Kendre has enriched Indian theatre by bringing folk forms and a Dalit and social-justice sensibility into the contemporary stage, and, as head of the National School of Drama, has shaped the training of a generation of theatre-makers.