First-ever Art Book Prize by Oxford Bookstore

Scenography: An Indian Perspective, a title from Niyogi Books authored by Dr. Satyabrata Rout, was awarded the first-ever Art Book Prize by the Oxford Bookstore. Scenography is the art of ‘writing the stage space’—a visual journey of unmaking and remaking the text in a theatre space, a language of the spectatorial senses. However, this dialect of space and props, though prevalent in the West since the early days of the Greek plays, has unfortunately never been groomed and appropriated in the long theatre tradition of the Orient—until a bunch of new practitioners and scholars decided to explore the field of design and change the narrative of space in recent times. Yet with hardly any documentation available against the backdrop of indigenous theatre, there has been a need for a practical treatise for quite some time.

Scenography: An Indian Perspective, the first-ever treatise in this field, unearths this astonishing yet silent contribution of ‘stage’ design in Indian theatres throughout the ages and the comparatively recent appropriation of it. Dr. Satyabrata Rout is a noted scenographer and director of contemporary Indian theatre. An alumnus of the National School of Drama, New Delhi, he was associated with various institutions and organizations like Rangmandal, Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal, Theatre-in-Education Company, NSD Extension Programme, etc. Satyabrata is one of the pioneers in conceptualizing ‘Visual Theatre’ in India and has designed and directed more than 75 plays of international repute. Rout has been a visiting professor at various universities across the globe, where he teaches Indian scenography and theatre. He is currently a professor of scenography and direction at the Department of Theatre, University of Hyderabad, India. Professor Rout has been conferred with numerous prestigious national and international awards, including the prestigious Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the B.V. Karanath Award by NSD.

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