Ramu Ramanathan

Ramakrishnan Ramanathan popularly known as Ramu Ramanathan is an Indian playwright-director with acclaimed plays to his credit. His list of plays includes Cotton 56, Polyester 84; Jazz; Comrade Kumbhakarna; and more recently, Postcards From Bardoli. His book 3, Sakina Manzil And Other Plays,[1] is a collection of eight plays, published by Orient Blackswan in collaboration with the English and Foreign Languages University (EFLU).[2]

Ramu Ramanathan
Born (1967-12-29) 29 December 1967
NationalityIndian
EducationBachelor of Science, Chemistry, University of Mumbai, 1988
Spouse(s)Kinnari Vohra
Websiteplacesotherthanthis.blogspot.com

Ramu was editor of PT Notes, a monthly theatre newsletter produced by Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai for ten years. He also co-edited e-STQ (Seagull Theatre Quarterly), and has written columns on theatre for national dailies.[3]

In addition to being counted as one of the best playwrights of today's India, Ramu is also the editor of PrintWeek India and Campaign India magazines[4] He has been associated with the printing industry for 30 years. Ramu helped launch PrintWeek India in May 2008. He has been a driving force in reshaping coverage of the Indian print market through industry specials, awards and survey reports. Under his leadership, PrintWeek has grown into one of the largest teams covering print in India.[5]

Ramu lives and works in Mumbai — the city where many of his plays are situated. Commenting on his relationship with Mumbai in a detailed interview with the Mumbai Theatre Guide,[6] he says, "Mumbai is my lover. I love her and at the same time, I loathe her. To-date, even today, I discover something new in her. And that I’ve poured into the plays." As part of his research on the city and its culture, Ramu has catalogued an exhaustive reading list in form of Literature that Celebrates Mumbai: A List.[7]

Early life

Ramu was born on 29 December 1967 in Kolkata and later moved to Mumbai. He completed his schooling from St. Stanislaus High School,[8] Mumbai. In 1988, Ramu graduated from University of Mumbai with bachelor's degree in Chemistry, and then completed Diploma in Journalism from Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Mumbai in 1990.

Publications
  • 3 Sakina Manzil and Other Plays (in English), Orient Blackswan (2012) - An anthology of eight plays: Shanti, Shanti It’s A War; The Boy Who Stopped Smiling; Curfew; Mahadevbhai (1892–1942); Collaborators; 3, Sakina Manzil; Shakespeare And She; Jazz.[9]
  • Mahadevbhai (in Marathi), Popular Prakashan (2011)
  • Tathasthu ("So Be It"), in The Little Magazine (2010)[10]
  • Collaborators And Mahadevbhai, Sahitya Akademi (2006)[11]
  • Combat, published by National School of Drama (2003)

Theatre experience
Ramu Ramanathan, Group Editor, PrintWeek India and Campaign India

The playwright–director's best work is with young people and non-theatre persons. He staged Vaikom Mohammed Basheer’s Me Grandad ‘Ad An Elephant, and later Marguerite Duras’ L’amante Anglaise (both with university students) and Samuel Beckett's Krapp's Last Tape (with Little Prithvi Players). These were unsullied theatrical experiences.

Similarly, his collaboration with a group of architecture students resulted in three plays and one delightfully wicked piece calledPM @ 3 pm. This group hosted an important 7-day workshops on Set Design + Theatre Aesthetics and fabricated four model sets of King Lear, for four language theatres’ directors in Mumbai. He has conducted innumerable workshops and lectures, in which he has tried to reinstate the ideals of good taste, decent humour, intelligence and above all progressive values.[3]

Playwriting
TitleYearAcclamation
Postcards From Bardoli2013
The Diary Of A Word2012
Comrade Kumbhakarna2011
Kashmir Kashmir2009
Jazz2008
Shakespeare And She2008
Medha And Zoombish II2007
Three Ladies Of Ibsen2006
Cotton 56, Polyester 842006Bagged the META best play and best playwright award[12]
Chello Ank(in Gujarati)2004Bagged the best play award for the Bhupen Khakkhar Playwriting Competition organised by Mumbai Samachar, Friends of Bhupen Khakkar, Image Publications and Coffee Mates.
3, Sakina Manzil2004
Medha And Zoombish2004
Collaborators2003Regional Award Winner of the BBC International Radio Playwriting Competition
Mahadevbhai 1892-19422002
Combat2002Premiered at the Kala Ghoda Festival
Yaar, What’s The Capital Of Manipur!2002
The Travel Show2000Premiered at the Prithvi Theatre Festival
Curfew1999Premiered at the Prithvi Theatre Festival
The Boy Who Stopped Smiling1998
Shanti, Shanti, It’s A War1993All India Best Play Award awarded by The Hindu
Nothing – A Play Without Words1990
I Am I; What It Is; Gagan Mahal; Etc.(1987 to 1993)Award-winning inter-collegiate one-act plays

Theatrical adaptations
TitleYearAdapted from
A Play About A Painter2004Edoardo Erba’s Italian drama
The Sanjivani Super Show2004Adaptation of Adya Rangacharya’s Kannada play, SANJIVANI
Gandhi Katha2003
The Train To Argentina2002Theatrical adaptation of play by Thuppatan
Steppenwolf2002Based on Herman Hesse’s novel in German. Staged as part of the Herman Hesse Celebrations at Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai
L’ Amante Anglaise (In English)2002Based on French play by Marguerite Duras
Translator Of Ded Inch Upar (Into English)1997Hindi original by Nirmal Verma

Direction
TitleYearNotes
Shakespeare And She2008
Medha And Zoombish II2007
Arabian Night2004Play by Ronald Schimmelpfennig
Medha And Zoombish2004
A Play About A Painter2004Edoardo Erba’s Italian drama
Collaborators2003
The Sanjivani Super Show2004Staged during the 100th Birth Anniversary of the Adya Rangacharya, at Mysore Association, Mumbai
Gandhi Katha2003Staged reading, premiered at the Gujarati Forbes Sabha’s book launch of Narayan Desai’s four-volume biography on Mahatma Gandhi, in Mumbai on 2 October 2003
The Train To Argentina2002Premiered at the Varkhari Kerala Theatre Festival in Mumbai, on 25 December 2002
L’ Amante Anglaise (in English)2002Co-produced by Alliance Francaise, Mumbai
Mahadevbhai 1892–19422002Premiered at the Prithvi Theatre Festival 2002
Yaar, What’s The Capital Of Manipur!2002Co-produced by Kamala Raheja Vidyanidhi Institute of Architecture
Time To Tell A Tale2001Co-produced with Katha Publishing and SNDT, University
Angst. Angst. Coontah. Coontah. Boom. Bam. Dhandal. Dhamaal. Kaput. (Concept And Direction)2001Premiered at TECHFEST, IIT Mumbai
Me Grandad ‘Ad An Elephant1998Theatrical adaptation of the Malayalam novella by Vaikom Mohammed Basheer, into a dramatized presentation (Group co-ordination & direction) 1998-99
The Boy Who Stopped Smiling1998
Credit Titles1997Playwright: Vijay Padki. A staged play-reading
Audience And Mistake (actor &c-Director)1994Playwright: Vaclav Havel
Deathwatch1991Playwright: Jean Genet
Krapp’s Last Tape1989Playwright: Samuel Beckett
  • Ramu Ramanathan's talk at Studio Safdar
  • Ramu Ramanathan's talk at Studio Safdar
gollark: You can use maths to make useful predictions, in combination with physics (based on maths).
gollark: Mathematics provides better models of reality than god.
gollark: bee you.
gollark: The [HG]Tech™ Standard Reality Scale®.
gollark: Or you could have a universe where that is the correct way to model it, probably maybe *somehow*.

References
  1. "Playing with Words".
  2. "3, Sakina Manzil and Other Plays".
  3. "Theatre is most un-wow". The Hindu. 2 March 2008. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  4. "PrintWeek India".
  5. "Ramu Ramanathan".
  6. "Ramu Ramanathan".
  7. "Literature that Celebrates Mumbai: A List".
  8. http://www.goethe.de/ins/in/en/lp/kul/mag/foc/fus/20388142.html
  9. "3, Sakina Manzil and Other Plays".
  10. http://www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/Articles/12/apr/26-book-launch-of-ramu-ramanathans-mahadevbhai.asp
  11. http://sahitya-akademi.gov.in/sahitya-akademi/publications/english.pdf
  12. http://metawards.com/metaarchive/cotton-56-polyster-84/
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