Sankar Venkateswaran

Sankar Venkateswaran is an Indian theatre director. Born in Calicut, Kerala, he studied directing at the Calicut University School of Drama and Fine Arts, and pursued his post-graduate training at Theatre training at Theatre Training and Research Programme (now Intercultural Theatre Institute), Singapore.

His directorial works include Richard Murphet’s Quick Death (2007), Sahyande Makan- The Elephant Project (2008), Ohto Shogo’s Water Station (2011), 101 Lullabies (2012) and Henrik Ibsen’s When We Dead Awaken (2012) for Theatre Roots & Wings, the company he founded in 2007. He is a recipient of the Ustad Bismillah Khan Yuva Puraskar 2011 (Government of India) and International Ibsen Scholarship 2013 (Teater Ibsen, Norway) for his project “Tribal Ibsen Project'', furthering his work with the indigenous communities of the region and setting up Sahyande Theatre in Attappady, Kerala. Sankar’s following works, Theriyama Nananda Nera (2016), Udal Uravu (2017), Criminal Tribes Act (2017) and Indian Rope Trick (2020), reflect the paradigm shift in his working context. His works have been shown at various venues and festivals, including Zurich Theater Spektakel, Spielart in Munich, Kyoto Experiment, Zoukak Sidewalks in Beirut, and Theatre Commons Tokyo.

Sankar served as the artistic director for International Theatre Festival of Kerala (2015 and 2016) and was a jury member for Zurich Theater Spektakel 2016. During his term, the programme emphasised exchanges within the Global South to resist the Eurocentric agendas of cultural practice.

Recent works:  
1. Instructor, 10 Days Webinar on Direction & Acting (2021) 
2. Speaker, The Chowk Reprise 2021 Symposium (2021, Chowk Productions; Online) 
3. Author, Beyond the Backyard (article) (2021, V/A - Various Artists by Pro Helvetia) 

Recent awards: 
1. Shankar Nag Theatre Award (awarded by Ranga Shankara to a theatre all-rounder below the age of 40, who embodies the spirit of service to the larger vision of theatre in India, besides being a joyous theatre-maker) (India, 2019) 

Last updated: 22 June 2021