Actor Sushma Seth to receive META lifetime achievement award 2023

At a time when people question the staying power of the stage, I am so happy that I will be a part of the META community this year to reiterate why we all do this, to share in the joy of theatre and to honour its best, jury member Shernaz Patel said in a statement.A series of workshops and conversations featuring theatre-practitioners and veteran artistes will also run parallel to the festival to nurture Indian theatre and build a community of practitioners dedicated to the craft.

Film and television veteran Sushma Seth will be given the META Lifetime Achievement Award at the upcoming theatre festival here, organisers announced on Friday.

The organisers, Mahindra Group and Teamwork Arts, also announced that the theatre festival will be judged by the likes of directors and actors including Amal Allana, Arundhati Nag, Bruce Guthrie, Neelam Mansingh Chowdhry, Mohan Agashe, Shernaz Patel and Sunit Tandon. The week-long Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Awards (META) and Festival will be held from March 23-28 at Kamani Auditorium and Shri Ram Centre, where 10-shortlisted plays will be performed for the panel of jury members.

This year's Lifetime Awardee, Seth started her career in the 1950s, and was a founder-member of the Delhi-based theatre group Yatrik. Starting her film career with Shyam Benegal's ''Junoon'' in 1978, Seth went on to be known for her role as Dadi in the pioneering TV soap ''Hum Log'' in 1984.

''We are thrilled to confer the META 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award on Sushma Seth, a veteran of the stage who understands the complexity and nuances of theatre and has in fact lived the craft fully through her vast body of work. The stage has unbounded potential and we continue to applaud it!'' Jay Shah, head-cultural outreach, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, said. In previous years, the META Lifetime Achievement Award has been conferred on several stalwarts of Indian theatre, including Badal Sircar (2010), Zohra Sehgal (2011), Khaled Chaudhury (2012), Ebrahim Alkazie (2013), Girish Karnad (2014), Heisnam Kanhai Lal (2015), Ratan Thiyam (2016), Arun Kakde (2017), Vijaya Mehta (2018), Mahesh Elkunchwar (2019) and Barry John (2020).

This year, the theatre festival will see 10 plays compete across 13 categories, including costume design, choreography, and original script. The nominated plays are: "Burn Out" (Assamese), "Chaai Garam" (Assamese/Baganiya/Gibberish), "Daklakatha Devikavya" (Kannada), "Hunkaro" (Marwadi/Hindi/Awadhi/Haryanvi), "Lavani ke Rang" (Hindi/Marathi), "Namak" (Hindi), "Notion(s): In Between You & Me" (English), "Nooramma: Biriyani Durbar" (Tamil), "The Departed Dawn" (non-verbal), and "Via Savargaon Khurd" (Marathi).

''It is no mean feat to run a programme of such depth and magnitude for 18 years. But META has never wavered from their quest to celebrate theatre and applaud its talent. At a time when people question the staying power of the stage, I am so happy that I will be a part of the META community this year to reiterate why we all do this, to share in the joy of theatre and to honour its best,'' jury member Shernaz Patel said in a statement.

A series of workshops and conversations featuring theatre-practitioners and veteran artistes will also run parallel to the festival to ''nurture Indian theatre and build a community of practitioners dedicated to the craft''.

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