Mrityunjay Kumar Prabhakar (born 14 September 1979) is an Indian

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

, theatre critic,

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, Assistant Professor of Drama and Theatre Art at

Visva-Bharati University Visva-Bharati (IAST: ''Viśva-Bhāratī''), () is a public central university and an Institute of National Importance located in Shantiniketan, West Bengal, India. It was founded by Rabindranath Tagore who called it ''Visva-Bharati'', which ...

Santiniketan Shantiniketan (IPA: Help:IPA/Bengali, �antiniketɔn is a neighbourhood of Bolpur town in the Bolpur subdivision of Birbhum district in West Bengal, India, approximately 152 km north of Kolkata. It was established by Maharshi Devendra ...

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

and the recipient of Bihar Kala Samman by the government of Bihar in 2012.

Early life and education

Born in a lower-middle class family from a village in

Nalanda Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, he attended

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the Government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Parliament ...

where he completed his doctorate i
Theatre and Performance Studies
a
School of Arts & Aesthetics

Career

Mrityunjay's theatre career began in

Patna Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...

while he was studying for his graduation. There he worked with several theatre groups like Prerna, Manch Art group, and Prangan in

. Later, he co-founded the group Abhiyan along with some like-minded friends. His love for theatre continued even after he shifted to

for his higher studies. Here he worked with famous groups like Rang Saptak, Bahroop and Dastak. Later he founded his own group named SEHAR in 2005 and continued to work rigorously. He received his training in dramaturgy from the leading figures of Indian Drama and Theatre through various workshops conducted by Habib Tanvir, B. V. Karanth, Prasanna,

Ratan Thiyam Ratan Thiyam (born 20 January 1948) is an Indian playwright and theatre director, and the winner of Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1987, one of leading figures of the "''theatre of roots''" movement in Indian theatre, which started in the 197 ...

, D. R. Ankur. He has worked with directors like D.R. Ankur, Lokendra Arambam, H. S. Shivaprakash, Surendra Sharma, Parvez Akhtar, Vijay Kumar, Javed Akhtar Khan, Suman Kumar and others. He has also worked as an actor, director,

set designer Scenic design, also known as stage design or set design, is the creation of scenery for theatrical productions including plays and musicals. The term can also be applied to film and television productions, where it may be referred to as prod ...

, light designer and organiser for numerous theatre productions. He is the founder-director of a theatre troupe, SEHAR (Society of Education, Harmony, Art, Culture and Media Reproduction) (registered under the Society Act) in 2007. He has directed more than two dozen plays among them ''Sabse Udas Kavita'',

''Khwahishen'', ''Jee Humen to Natak Karna Hai'', ''Dhruvswamini'', ''Vithalala'' and ''Suicide'' have got special attention from the larger section of the society. He has also written plays like ''Aao Natak Natak Khelen'', ''Khwahishen'', ''Jee Humen to Natak Karna Hai'', ''Suicide'', ''Hey Ram'', ''Teri Meri Kahani Hai'', ''Karnav'' and others, which have been performed by groups and directors in various theatre centres of the country. He has adapted famous Keniyan playwright

Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o (; born James Ngugi; 5January 193828May 2025) was a Kenyan author and academic, who has been described as East Africa's leading novelist and an important figure in modern African literature. Ngũgĩ wrote primarily in Eng ...

's play ''The Black Hermit'' as ''Jayen to Jayen Kahan''. The adaptation was first performed by NSD (

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a drama school situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an independent school ...

) graduate Randhir Kumar in 2005 in Patna. Later he reproduced the play in 2010 with SEHAR in Delhi. He has adopted H. S. Shivaprakash's famous Kannada play ''Mochi Madaiah'' in Hindi which was directed by Lokendra Arambam and published by Yash Publication, Delhi. An anthology on contemporary Indian theatre titled ''Samkaleen Rangkarm'' is also credited to him. His Hindi poetry collection ''Jo Mere Bheetar Hain'' was published by

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of the Indian government. Its off ...

, the Indian national academy of letters. Presently, he is an assistant professor of drama and theatre arts in

and manages his troupe SEHAR. He has also taught performing arts, communication and Indian aesthetics at IIT Mandi, IIMC,

NCERT National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) () is an autonomous organisation of Ministry of Education, the Government of India. Established in 1961, it is a literary, scientific and charitable Society under the Societies Re ...

and

College of Art, Delhi College of Art, Delhi (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is an art college for advanced training in visual arts established in 1942 under the arts department of the Delhi College of Engineering (now Delhi Technological University). One of the oldest Art sch ...

Awards and recognition

He has been awarded Bihar Kala Samman by the Bihar government on the occasion of completion of hundred years of Bihar for his writings in the field of performing arts in 2012. He was awarded the Yuva Shabdsadhak Samman by the Hindi magazine ''Pakhi''.

Works

Plays

'Sadho Dekho Jag Baudana', 'Aao Natak Natak Khelen', 'Khwahishen', 'Jee Humen To Natak Karna Hai', 'Suicide', 'Hey Ram', 'Teri Meri Kahani Hai', 'Karnav', 'Jayen To Jayen Kahan', 'Mochi Madaiah',

Books

'Samkaleen Rangkarm', 'Jo Mere Bheetar Hain', 'Sadho Dekho Jag Baudana', 'Jayen To Jayen Kahan', 'Mochi Madaiah', 'Colonial/Postcolonial Bihar and Jharkhand'.

Poetry collection

'Jo Mere Bheetar Hain'

References

External links

* http://www.tehelka.com/dancing-queens/

* http://www.thesundayindian.com/article_print.php?article_id=2422 * http://www.indiaeducationdiary.in/showEE.asp?newsid=28965 * https://www.academia.edu/3322757/Some_writings_pertaining_to_contemporary_Theater_in_India * http://i4d.eletsonline.com/mann-deshi-mahila-sahakari-bank-india/ * http://teamworkmedia.co.in/news/swadesh-deepaks-sabse-udaas-kavita-staged-at-the-yuva-natya-samaroh/ * http://allevents.in/new+delhi/sabse-udas-kavita/1523328831225008 * http://zatse.in/numbers/find/August-Play-Event-(19th-August-7%3A30pm-Mrityunjay-Prabhakar%5BDirector%5D)-Lodhi-Road-New-Delhi/46 * http://www.pravasiduniya.com/tag/hindi-poems-by-mritunjay-prabhakar * * http://allevents.in/new+delhi/sabse-udas-kavita/1523328831225008 * http://www.wherevent.com/detail/Mrityunjay-Prabhakar-SABSE-UDAS-KAVITA * http://newssuperfast.com/2014/02/10/mahabhoj-throws-open-yuva-natya-samaroh-with-remarkable-performance-by-young-theater-artists/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Prabhakar, Mrityunjay Indian male dramatists and playwrights Indian theatre directors 1979 births Living people Poets from Bihar People from Nalanda Indian male poets Dramatists and playwrights from Bihar