Laxminarayan Lal
Lakshminarayan Lal (1927–1987) was an Indian playwright, critic and a novelist who wrote in Hindi. He worked in many genres of literature but received fame as a playwright. His contribution as a reviewer is also significant. Early life. Laxminarayan Lal was born on March 4, 1927 in Jalalpur, Basti district of Uttar Pradesh. He earned a Ph.D., with his thesis on the topic "Development of the craft method of Hindi stories." Lal grew up primarily as a playwright and had an affinity for drama and theatrics in his childhood. His childhood was spent in a rural environment. He  was introduced at a very young age with folk dramas like Ramlila, Nautanki, Bidesia etc. He died on 20 November 1987 in Delhi. Career. Lal's was as a story writer, novelist, playwright, and critic; in all these areas he wrote and produced significant works. Theatrical literature. Lal composed about 35 full-length plays, many of which were also staged by well-known theatrical directors. He wrote his first play "Andha Kuan" in 1955. Since then he not only continued to write plays but also ran a theater center in Allahabad in which he attempted both theatrical training and performance  with very limited means. In his plays, there is often an attempt to see the experiences of ordinary life from a deeper or important perspective. The mythological-historical setting as well as the realistic environment, experimentation, meaningful use of symbols and images, the complexity of human relations - especially the male-female relationship - the openness and the depiction of multi-layered situations, etc. have linked his plays to their soil and tradition. Laxminarayan Lal is well-known as an important playwright of the post-independence era. Fiction. Apart from being a playwright, and even before that, Laxminarayan Lal was also a  storyteller and has authored a large number of novels. In 1951, his first novel "Dharti Ki Aankhen" was published. Then about a dozen of his novels were published. The background of these novels is often of middle-class civic life and sometimes even rural life. Various moods of love are also at the center of these novels. In these novels, there are realistic and poignant glimpses of life, at times the story of cultural struggle is told in the middle-class conflict, and occasionally there is a collision of new circumstances and orthodox ideals. The formulation of many new and  old problems in changing contexts is not only extroverted - the inner feelings are also portrayed with humility. Along with the inclusion of folk life and folk elements in the style, symbolism has also been included. Apart from novels, Lal has also written stories and many of his short story collections have been published by publishers. Most of his stories are spontaneous experiences of rural life. There are also a good number of stories centered on love. In fact, the reality of Lal's stories is both internal and external, that is, they contain the inner world of the mind and  the outside political-economic pressure. Along with the mutual reality of male-female psychology and their relationship, these stories also depict the complex economic-social problems of today's villages. Review work. Lal was associated with stories from the very beginning. He wrote his dissertation on stories for his Ph.D. In addition to the work titled "Shilp Vidhi Ka Vikas of Hindi Stories", a review book titled "Modern Hindi Story" written for the Sahitya Akademi is also a work of literature review. Due to his versatility and multifaceted work experience, Lal's field of experience was also wide. This is  the reason that he also made a remarkable contribution in the field of theatrical review. His review books "Theatre and The Role of Drama" and "Modern Hindi Drama and Theatre" are based on personal experience and enriched with a serious study of Indian and Western traditions. In the third book 'Parsi Hindi Theatre', the history and characteristics of Parsi theatre have been outlined. Other activities. Lal was directly associated with various aspects of Rangakarma. He was also a theatre director and actor. The first play he directed was the self-composed "Mada Cactus". Apart from this, he also directed and  acted in many other plays. The establishment of the institutions Natya Kendra (1958) in Allahabad and Samvad (1967) in Delhi is proof of their association with the totality of theatre. He taught drama subjects in colleges and also worked as a drama producer on All India Radio. Legacy. Laxminarayan Lal was honored as the best playwright by the Sangeet Natak Akademi in 1977. He was awarded for literary contribution by the Sahitya Kala Parishad in 1979 and by the Hindi Academy in 1987.