>SdkbBot at 05:34, 4 June 2021

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{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}}
{{short description|Indian theatre director and professor of drama}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Anuradha Kapur
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = 1951
| birth_place = [[Nainital]], [[India]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Indian
| other_names =
| known_for = Director of [[National School of Drama| NSD]]
| father = [[M. N. Kapur]]
| mother = Amrita Kapur
| relatives =
| family = [[Geeta Kapur]] (sister)
| awards = [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] (2004); <br> J. Vasanthan Lifetime Achievement Award (2016)
| alma_mater = [[Miranda House, University of Delhi| Miranda House, DU]]; <br> [[University of Leeds]]
| occupation = [[Theatre director]]
| years_active = 1973 - present
}}
'''Anuradha Kapur''' is an Indian [[theatre director]] and professor of drama. She taught at the [[National School of Drama]] (NSD) for over three decades and was the Director of [[National School of Drama]] for six years (2007–2013). For her work as a theatre director, the [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] was conferred on her in 2004.<ref name="snaawards">{{cite web |title=SNA: List of Awardees |url=http://sangeetnatak.gov.in/sna/Awardees.php?section=all&awtype=&page=4 |website=sangeetnatak.gov.in |accessdate=15 February 2019}}</ref> In 2016, she was awarded the J. Vasanthan Lifetime Achievement Award for excellence in theatre.<ref name="hindujvaward">{{cite news |title=Anuradha Kapur awarded first JV Lifetime Achievement award |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/Anuradha-Kapur-awarded-first-JV-Lifetime-Achievement-award/article14003980.ece |accessdate=12 March 2019 |work=The Hindu |date=18 January 2016}}</ref> Her work as a director is noted for its open and interactive nature.

== Early life ==
Anuradha Kapur was born in [[Nainital]] in 1951. She is the daughter of [[M. N. Kapur]], the longest-serving Principal of [[Modern School (New Delhi)|Modern School]], [[New Delhi]], and Amrita Kapur, Art historian and critic [[Geeta Kapur]] is her sister.<ref name="geetakapurbook">{{cite book |last1=Kapur |first1=Geeta |title=When was Modernism: Essays on Contemporary Cultural Practice in India |date=2000 |publisher=Tulika |isbn=81-85229-14-7 |page=xv |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZMWfAAAAMAAJ&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=anuradha |accessdate=4 March 2019}}</ref> After completing her schooling from [[Modern School (New Delhi)|Modern School, New Delhi]], she studied English at [[Miranda House]], Delhi. She obtained her master's degree in English from the [[University of Delhi]] in 1973.

== Career ==
Kapur started her teaching career as lecturer in English in [[Delhi University]]'s [[Bharati College]]. However, she was always sure that she wanted to pursue theatre as a profession.<ref name="forbesindia">{{cite news |last1=Phukan |first1=Vikram |title=Anuradha Kapur – Directing change |url=http://www.forbesindia.com/article/forbeslifes-india/anuradha-kapur-directing-change/51967/1 |accessdate=16 February 2019 |work=ForbesLife India |date=1 December 2018}}</ref> During her student days, she had been a member of the theatre group Dishantar led by [[Om Shivpuri]], and acted in a number of plays, including Adhe-Adhure by [[Mohan Rakesh]]. She obtained leave from the college to study for a master's degree in drama and theatre arts at the [[University of Leeds]], UK, where she eventually completed a Ph.D.

In 1981, Kapur joined the faculty of [[National School of Drama|NSD]] as associate professor. She later became professor, and stayed with NSD until her superannuation. During this period, she taught many students who went on to make a mark in theatre and cinema. Some of them are [[Seema Biswas]], [[Irrfan Khan]], [[Rajpal Yadav]], [[Nawazuddin Siddiqui]] and [[Adil Hussain]].<ref name="hindusaravanan">{{cite news |last1=Saravanan |first1=T. |title=Cutting across the divide |url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/theatre/theatre-exponent-anuradha-kapur/article6767991.ece |accessdate=22 May 2019 |work=The Hindu |date=8 January 2015}}</ref>

In July 2007, Kapur was appointed director of NSD for a five-year term, later extended by a year up to July 2013. She was also Chief of the [[Repertory theatre|NSD Repertory Company]]. <ref name="nsdrepertory">{{cite web |title=The Repertory Company of the National School of Drama |url=https://nsd.gov.in/delhi/index.php/about-repertory/ |website=nsd.gov.in |publisher=National School of Drama |accessdate=17 February 2019}}</ref> Currently she is visiting professor at the School of Culture and Creative Expressions, [[Ambedkar University Delhi]].<ref name="ambedkardelhi">{{cite web |title=AUD – School of Culture and Creative Expressions |url=http://www.aud.ac.in/academic/schools/scce |website=aud.ac.in |accessdate=16 February 2019}}</ref>

Kapur has taught in several institutions in India and abroad. During 2016–2017, she was Fellow at [[Free University of Berlin|Freie Universitat, Berlin]].<ref name="freie">{{cite web |title=Anuradha Kapur – International Center "Interweaving Performance Cultures" |url=https://www.geisteswissenschaften.fu-berlin.de/en/v/interweaving-performance-cultures/fellows/fellows_2016_2017/anuradha_kapur/index.html |website=Freie Universitat, Berlin |accessdate=3 October 2019}}</ref>

== Work ==
A distinguishing feature of Kapur's work as a director has been its open and interactive nature. She has worked extensively in collaboration with visual and video artists and filmmakers. Some of the people she has worked with are [[Arpita Singh]], [[Bhupen Khakhar]], [[Madhusree Dutta]], [[Nalini Malani]], [[Nilima Sheikh]] and [[Vivan Sundaram]]. She is one of the founding members of [[Vivadi]], a working group of painters, musicians, writers and theatre practitioners.<ref name="thehindu2013">{{cite news |title=Anuradha Kapur |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/anuradha-kapur/article5393839.ece |accessdate=4 April 2019 |work=The Hindu |date=25 November 2013}}</ref> "Porous borders between art forms", according to Kapur, take the work "to a level where meanings emerge in multitudes."<ref name="indiatoday2017">{{cite news |last1=Deepak |first1=Sukant |title=Striving for excellence |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/supplement/story/20170213-sangeet-natak-akademi-anuradha-kapur-theatre-director-985685-2017-02-03 |accessdate=1 February 2020 |work=India Today |date=3 February 2017}}</ref>

Most recently, Kapur has ventured into a new genre - opera - with an international team assisting her in the production "Daughters", staged in [[Delhi]] in January 2020.<ref name="outlook-scroll">{{cite web |title=An opera of invisible labour: Anuradha Kapur on ''Daughters'' |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/an-opera-of-invisible-labour-anuradha-kapur-on-daughters/1698995 |website=outlookindia.com |accessdate=18 March 2020}}</ref>

== Books authored/edited by Anuradha Kapur ==
* Actors, Pilgrims, Kings, and Gods: The Ramlila at Ramnagar, by Anuradha Kapur. Seagull Books, 1990. {{ISBN|9788170460466}}
* Intercultural Acting and Performer Training, edited by Phillip B. Zarrilli, T. Sasitharan and Anuradha Kapur. Routledge, 2019. {{ISBN |9781138352131}}

== Awards and honours ==
* [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] (2004)<ref name="snaawards" />
* J. Vasanthan Lifetime Achievement Award (2016)<ref name="hindujvaward" />

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VR7Wiobh0pg Anuradha Kapur at the Serendipity Arts Festival 2017]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kapur, Anuradha}}
[[Category: Living people]]
[[Category: 1951 births]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]
[[Category: University of Delhi alumni]]
[[Category:Indian theatre directors]]
[[Category:Indian women theatre directors]]

Anuradha Kapur - Revision history

>SdkbBot at 05:34, 4 June 2021