Professor Satyabrata Rout, from the Department of Theatre Arts, S N School of Arts and Communication, University of Hyderabad is a noted theatre director and scenographer. He has developed a unique method of teaching and practicing direction and design, which has been achieved through a long and continuous work experiences with eminent theatre practitioners and scholars, such as: Peter Brook, John Martin, Fritz Bennewitz, Frank Hoffmann, Juan Monsalve, Beatriz Camargo, John Barry, B.V Karanth, Habib Tanvir, K.N Panicker, Ratan Thiyam, BansiKaul, M.K Raina, Dr. AnuradhaKapur, Pr. D.R Ankur, Prof. Raj Bisharia, Prof. Mohan Maharishi, Dr. Mohan Aghashe, Ms. Shiela Bhatia, etc.
Prof. Rout is one of the pioneers of ‘Visual Theatre’ in India, and has authored ‘Scenography: An Indian Perspective’. He has directed number of plays, participated in national and international theatre festivals and conducted numerous theatre workshops across the globe. His production; Matte Ekalavya (Ekalavya once again) conferred him with the prestigious META (Mahindra Excellence in Theatre Award) award in 2013 in the area of Play direction. His recent play ‘Tumhara Vincent’ (Yours Vincent) bagged the best manuscript award by Sahitya Kala Parishad, Delhi in 2015.
He has travelled extensively in Europe, America and Asian countries on teaching and training assignments, including East-15 Acting School, England and International Bio-drama School, Colombia.
Prof. Rout has two books to his credit; On the Crossroad of Theatre (Book related to Theatre, Published by Vijaya Books, Sahadra, Delhi) and Animal Farm (Odia adaptation of George Orwells political novel, published by PEN IN Books, Bhubaneswar).
About the Award: The Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar (Akademi Award) is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, India’s National Academy of Music, Dance & Drama. It is the highest Indian recognition given to practicing artists. The award consists since 2003 of Rs. 50,000, a citation, an angavastram (a shawl), and a tamrapatra (a brass plaque). The awards are given in the categories of music, dance, theatre, other traditional arts and puppetry, and for contribution/scholarship in performing arts.