Maya Krishna Rao (born 1953) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

theatre artist,

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedy, comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of One-line joke ...

and social activist. Her well-known plays include ''Om Swaha'', ''Dafa No. 180'', ''Ravanama'' and ''Heads Are Meant for Walking Into''. She is a recipient of the

Sangeet Natak Akademi Award Sangeet Natak Akademi Award (IPA: Saṅgīta Nāṭaka Akādamī Puraskāra), also known as the Akademi Puraskar, is an award given by the Sangeet Natak Akademi Sangeet Natak Akademi (The National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama in Englis ...

(2010), which she returned five years later citing growth of intolerance in India.

Biography

Born in 1953 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, Rao moved to India at a young age. She was inspired by her mother Bhanumathi Rao, who was associated with Malayalam theatre in the 1960s. Rao studied at Modern School, New Delhi. She completed her bachelor's degree from

Miranda House, Delhi Miranda House is a constituent college for women at the University of Delhi in India. Established in 1948, it is one of the top ranked colleges of the country and ranked as number 1 for consecutively six years (as of 2022). History Miranda ...

and received a Master's degree in political science from the

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. She also has a degree in theatre arts from the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

. During her stay in the United Kingdom, she was briefly associated with the "Perspectives Theatre Company" in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

and the "Leeds Playhouse Theatre-in-Education Company". Rao is a trained

Kathakali Kathakali ( ml, കഥകളി) is a major form of classical Indian dance. It is a "story play" genre of art, but one distinguished by the elaborately colourful make-up and costumes of the traditional male actor-dancers. It is native to the M ...

artist; she received her training from Mampuzha Madhava Panicker and Sadanam Balakrishnan. Right from her college days, Rao was deeply influenced by the left movement. She is a co-founder of "Theatre Union", a street theatre group. She was Associate Professor in the department of Acting at the

National School of Drama National School of Drama (NSD) is a theatre training institute situated at New Delhi, India. It is an autonomous organization under Ministry of Culture, Government of India. It was set up in 1959 by the Sangeet Natak Akademi and became an indepe ...

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, between 1985 and 1990. and continued as visiting faculty thereafter. In 2013 she was appointed professor at the Shiv Nadar University, Delhi where she designed and taught a post graduate Diploma programme, TEST (Theatre for Education and Social Transformation), a first-of-its-kind in any institute of higher education in India. Rao's plays are characterised by

sociopolitical Political sociology is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field of study concerned with exploring how governance and society interact and influence one another at the micro to macro Level of analysis, levels of analysis. Interested in the ...

themes. Her earliest plays include, ''Om Swaha'', a critique of

dowry A dowry is a payment, such as property or money, paid by the bride's family to the groom or his family at the time of marriage. Dowry contrasts with the related concepts of bride price and dower. While bride price or bride service is a payment b ...

, and ''Dafa No. 180'', a take on the Indian rape law. Her solo-artist plays include ''Ravanama'', ''Are You Home Lady Macbeth?'', ''A Deep Fried Jam'' and ''Heads Are Meant for Walking Into''. Rao's 2017 play ''Quality Street'', based on a short story by the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie, received critical acclaim. Her 2012 play ''Walk'' was based on the

2012 Delhi gang rape The 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder, commonly known as the Nirbhaya case, involved a rape and fatal assault that occurred on 16 December 2012 in Munirka, a neighbourhood in South West Delhi. The incident took place when Jyoti Singh, a 22-year ...

. Rao received the

for her contribution to Indian theatre in 2010. Following the

2015 Dadri mob lynching The 2015 Dadri lynching refers to case of lynching in which a mob of villagers attacked the home of 52-year-old Mohammed Akhlaq, killing him, for suspicion of slaughtering a cow. The attack took place at night, on 28 September 2015 in Bisahda ...

incident, she returned the award citing "rising of intolerance" in India; she was the first artist to renounce the award. She resides with her family in

Plays

* ''Loose Woman'' * ''Om Swaha'' * ''Dafa No. 180'' * ''Khol Do'' * ''A Deep Fried Jam'' * ''Heads Are Meant for Walking Into'' * ''Quality Street'' * ''The Non-Stop Feel Good Show'' * ''Hand Over Fist – perspectives on masculinities'' * ''Lady Macbeth Revisited'' * ''Ravanama'' * ''Walk'' * ''Not in My Name''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, Maya Krishna 1953 births Indian stage actresses Indian women theatre directors Jawaharlal Nehru University alumni Alumni of the University of Leeds Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award People from New York City People from New Delhi Living people Indian women educators Kathakali exponents Indian women choreographers Indian film choreographers Indian stand-up comedians Indian women comedians Women humorists