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New Delhi, Apr 21: Internationally acclaimed theatre personality Ratan Thiyam of Imphal, who is a recipient of several awards and honours including Padmashri, will be honoured with this year's Life-Long Achievement Award of the Delhi-based Chaman Lal Memorial Society.
According to a Manipur information release issued here today, the 17th edition of the annual award ceremony will be held here on April 23 where renowned cine and theatre personality Tom Alter will be the chiefguest.
Instituted in memory of late Chaman Lal who was a pioneer in the field of stage lighting and craft, the Chaman Lal Memorial Society stated that Ratan Thiyam has made a powerful impact in the field of theatre as a writer, theatre artist, Ex-Chairman of Sangeet Natak Academy and Ex-Director of National School of Drama.
This year, the Society is honouring him with the Life-Long Achievement Award for enriching the performing arts, particularly the theatre world with his extraordinary talent.
Past recipients of the award include Joy Michael of Delhi, M S Sathyu of Bangalore, Shyamanand Jalan of Kolkata, Gursharan Singh of Chandigarh and Sushma Seth of Delhi.
In recognition to his outstanding works in theatre, Thiyam has already been conferred with Indo-Greek Friendship Award (Greece) 1984, Fringe First Award from Edinburgh International Festival 1987, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award 1987, Padma Shri 1989 and Diploma of Cervantino International Festival, The theatre personality has also received Mexico 1990, Nandikar Award 1992, La Grande Medaille (France) 1997, B M Shah Award 2000 and B V Karanth Smriti Puraskar 2004, He has been recipient of One India One People Outstanding Indian Award 2006, Kalidas Samman 2006, Siu-Ka-Pha Award 2006, John D Rockfeller award 2008 and Alkazi Foundation Award 2008.
Besides Thiyam, the Chaman Lal Memorial Society will confer the Award for Excellence in Stage Craft to the Delhi-based H V Sharma, an 80-year-old veteran in the art of stage craft.
Raghav Prakash, a pass out of Bhartendu Natya Academy, Uttar Pradesh, specialized in lighting design will be honoured with the Award for excellence in Light Design for his creativity in the field.
The awards, which carry a cash award of Rs 25,000 each, along with acitation, memento and a shawl will be presented by chief guest Tom Alter.
The award ceremony will be followedby a 40-minute multi-media light, sound and dance choreography presentation, "SARGAM" designed by R K Dhingra.
The Society was established in the year 1995 with the objective to acknowledge and honour people, who have with their different back stage expertise, created magical moments on stage for some of the most spectacular presentations of dance, drama and music.
The categories include Stage Light Design, Costume Design, Stage Craft and Make-Up, which are all highly specialised skills and an art in themselves.
–UNI