Surprise Present

As the ceremony unfolded,it was clear that the jury had looked beyond the nominations to declare winners. “The selection committee makes its recommendations based on DVDs and sometimes the live performance is more zabardast. The jury has the right to declare a winner they think fit even if the person hasn’t been nominated,” says Ravi Dubey,creative director,META.

There were other elements,too,to keep the audience in a grip — from tongue-tied winners to eloquent ones,from tearful acceptance speeches to bursts of Malayalam and Kannada,from lavish Thank Yous to simple expressions of joy. Rout clutched his Best Director award and said,“Five years ago,I had left Delhi because I felt politically demoralised. I am not a Hindi speaking person and could not work properly here. It was during my travels that I came across the tribal people on the Andhra Pradesh-Karnataka border and started working with them,” says Rout. His play Matte Eklavya revisits the story of Eklavya from the Mahabharata. The biggest award of the evening,for Best Play,went to a story on Kashmir – Gasha,by the Bangalore-based Indian Ensemble.

For the cheering audience,there was also a moment of silence and awe. Theatre doyen Ebrahim Alkazi was honoured with a META for Lifetime Achievement and his daughter and National School of Drama chairperson Amal Allana choked as she received the award. “I have never accepted an award on his behalf. This is not a National Award but it is more than that because it has been given by his theatre fraternity. This award comes from the heart,” she said.

WINNERS ALL

Best Play

Gasha

Best Director

Satyabrata Rout (Matte Eklavya)

Best Original Script

Iravati Karnik (Gasha)

Best Costume Design

Reuben Paul Nathanel P

(Mirugavidushagam ) and Neela (Matte Eklavya )

Best Innovative Sound

Design

Claudio Clavija (After The Silence)

Best Lighting Director

Shaji Surendranath

(After The Silence)

Best Actor in a Lead Role (Male)

Dingri Naresh (Matte Eklavya)

Best Actor in a Lead Role

(Female)

Valeria Olgoin (After The Silence)

Best Supporting Actor (Male)

Chidambara Poojari and Yashvant (Matte Eklavya)

Best Supporting Actor

(Female)

Bhavna Pani (So Many Socks)

Best Choreography

Martin John C (After The Silence)

Best Stage Design

Samkutty Pattimkari

(The Old Man And The Sea)

Best Ensemble

Gasha

LifeTime Achievement

Ebrahim Alkazi