Theatre artistes to be feted

Rajamahendravaram: Eminent stage artistes, who dedicated their lives to Telugu drama and plays, will be felicitated by the State government at Anam Kalakendram on Saturday, which is celebrated as Telugu Theatre Day.

The birth anniversary of renowned Telugu playwright and social reformer, Kandukuri Veeresalingam Panthulu, which falls on April 16 th is celebrated as Telugu Theatre Day. One State-level and five district-level artistes will be honoured on the occasion.

The State-level artiste will receive a cash award of Rs 25,000, while the district-level artistes will get a cash prize of Rs 10,000 each. Artistes Ch Narasimha Rao, Prasadula Gurumurthy, Pampana Dayananda Babu, Pakki Manibala and M Sitharamam have been selected from the district. Cultural programmes have been arranged on the occasion.

Besides being a social reformer, Veeresalingam Panthulu’s contribution to Telugu literature is unparallel. He was born on April 16, 1848 in Rajamahendravaram. His “Vyavahara Dharmabhodhini” play is the first play in Telugu language and was performed for the first time in girl’s high school of Vizianagara Maharaja.

He also translated Shakespeare’s play, “Comedy of errors” into Telugu language as “Chamatkara Ratnavali”. He wrote Kalidasu Shakunthulam in Telugu language and wrote Ratnavali as Sanskrit metaphor translation. He wrote 12 plays including Dakshina Gograham, Satya Harishchandra and Malavikagni Mitram.