SATISH ALEKAR

                       SATISH ALEKAR 

        Satish Vasant Alekar born 30 January 1949 is a Marathi playwright, actor, and theatre director. A founder member of the Theatre Academy of Pune, and most known for his plays Mahanirvan (1974), Mahapoor (1975), Atirekee (1990), Pidhijat (2003), Mickey ani Memsahib (1973), and Begum Barve (1979), all of which he also directed for the Academy. Today, along with Mahesh Elkunchwar and Vijay Tendulkar he is one of the most influential and progressive playwrights not just in modern Marathi theatre, but also larger modern Indian theatre.He has also remained the head of Centre for Performing Arts, University of Pune (1996–2009), which he founded, after forgoing the Directorship of NSDand previously remained an adjunct professor at Performance Studies, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University as a Fulbright Scholar.He was awarded the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in Playwriting (Marathi) in 1994, by Sangeet Natak Akademi, India's National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama. He received the award "Padamshree" (पद्मश्री) conferred by the President of India in January 2012.

             Alekar was born in Delhi, India, but grew up in Pune, a center of Marathi culture in Maharashtra.He studied in Marathi medium school 'New English School', Ramanbag which was established in 1880 by Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. Further he went to Fergusson College and completed his BSc He received his master's degree in biochemistry from University of Pune in 1972 Alekar gained his first stage experience as an actor in a college play. Impressed by his performance, director Bhalba Kelkar, who had set up the Progressive Dramatic Association, invited him to join it. Alekar wrote and directed his first one-act play Jhulta Pool in 1969. He became a part of a young circle that Jabbar Patel had started within the Progressive Dramatic Association.

         This group split with the parent body in 1973 and set up Theater Academy in Pune. The split was over Vijay Tendulkar's play Ghashiram Kotwal. The senior members decided against its premiere in 1972, and Patel's group decided to produce it under the auspices of its own Theater Academy. Alekar assisted Patel in the direction of Ghashiram Kotwal, and the group has since mounted over 35 plays by him and manage to establish its foothold in experimental Marathi theatre.

       Alekar conceived of and implemented Playwrights Development Scheme and Regional Theater Group Development. The Ford Foundation for Theater Academy, Pune supported these programs during 1985–1994.Alekar has collaborated in several international play translation projects. The Tisch School of Arts at New York University invited him in 2003 to teach a course on Indian Theatre. The Department of Theater and Films Studies, University of Georgia invited him in 2005 to direct an English production of his play Begum Barve.The Holy Cow Performing Arts Group in Edinburgh, Scotland performed an English version of Alekar's Micky And Memsahib on 27 and 28 August 2009 at Riddle's Court in Edinburgh Fringe Festival '09.

During July 1996 – January 2009, Alekar worked as a professor and the Head of the Center for Performing Arts(Lalit Kala Kendra) at University of Pune. Previously he was a research officer in Biochemistry at the government-run B. J. Medical College, Pune.He was working as the Honorary Director for a program supported by Ratan Tata Trust at the University of Pune during 2009–2011. In September 2013 University of Pune honoured Satish Alekar by nominating him as Distinguished Professor on the campus for five years tenure. University of Pune is the first state University in India to nominate Distinguished Professors on the campus.