KSNA to function in North, Central and South

With an objective to spread its activities across the state, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi has decided to function under three zones-- North, Central and South.
   
The Akademi's North zone would be centred at Kozhikode and would be named after K T Mohammed, a renowned play writer, Soorya Krishnamoorthy, Chairman, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi said on Saturday.
   
The south zone would be centred at Thiruvananthapuram while the Central zone at Thrissur, he said.
   
Stating that the Akademi's all major festivals and competitions would be held at zonal level also, he said Kozhikode and Thiruvananthapuram would also join Thrissur as permanent venue for international theatre festival of Kerala from February 1 to 8 next year.
   
Akademi's professional, amateur and drama competitions which would be held annually during April-May would be held in three zones, he said.
  
Akademi would also conduct a competition for short plays, in which plays below 45 minutes duration would be eligible for participating, he said.
  
A month-long international drama workshop would be held in June at Thrissur.

The workshop would be hosted jointly with the Universities of London and Kent, he said.
   
Kerala is the first state to implement insurance scheme for drama, dance and music artistes in the country, he said, adding about 2000 artistes would be included in the health insurance scheme of Akademi.
   
Film stars Mammootty and Mohanlal, who wanted to do something for the less privileged artistes were paying premium for the first three years, he said, adding they were paying Rs 45 lakh each.