Abhishek Majumdar
Abhishek Majumdar is an Indian playwright, theatre director, scenographer. and pedagogue. Born into a Bengali family, he grew up in Delhi and now lives in Bangalore. He writes in English, Hindi and Bangla.
Abhishek Majumdar | |
|---|---|
| Born | Abhishek Majumdar |
| Nationality | India |
| Occupation | Stage director & playwright |
| Years active | 2004–present |
He is the ex artistic director and founder of two theatre companies, Indian Ensemble and Bhasha Centre for Performing Arts, both based out of Bangalore. He is best known for plays such as The Djinns of Eidgah [1] and Pah-la,[2] both of which have been staged in London. Other plays include Pratidwandi, Harlesden High Street, An Arrangement of Shoes, Afterlife of Birds, Rizwaan, Kaumudi, Dweepa, Muktidham, Baatin, Tathagat and Salt.[3] His plays have been performed in Asia, Europe, Latin America, USA, and Canada.
He is Associate Professor at NYU, Abu Dhabi.
Early life
Majumdar has trained in Delhi, Pondicherry, and Bangalore. He also is an alumnus of the London International School of Performing Arts. He has also trained in National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli and Delhi University. He is guest faculty at School of Sustainability, Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar and Visiting Fellow at Delhi University
Abhishek Majumdar has received the Charles Wallace Trust Fellowship, the Inlaks Scholarship, the Lispa Scholarship, and the Robert Bosch Arts Grant. He is a member of the Young Vic Director’s network, London and was at the Lincoln Center Director’s Lab in 2012.
Work
Majumdar's work has been translated to English, Hindi, Bangla, Marathi, Czech, Kannada, Gujrati, Tibetan, Spanish and French.
His interest includes Playwriting styles and traditions from different parts of the world, Acting methodologies, Scenography, Dramaturgy, Theatre Direction, Ecological Philosophy, Philosophy of Arts and Philosophy of Science.
Currently, he is under commission by several theatres including the Royal Court Theatre in London, The PlayCo. New York and New York University in Abu Dhabi.
He has a commission to write a book on playwriting by Bloomsbury/Methuen Drama.
He has been published by Oberon books, Bloomsbury and Palgrave.
He has taught theatre programs at NSD, Ranga Shankara Theatre, IIM Bangalore and FTII Pune. He was invited by the Lincoln Centre New York as a master artist for the Lincoln Centre Director's Lab 2018.
Some of the masterclasses he has presented are-
-Speaker and participant at 'Shaping New Humanities' conference chaired by Ashish Nandy at Xavier University, School of Humanities, 2016
-Guest Speaker at the London Consortium's Climate Lab, presenting a session on 'The Dramaturgy of Theatre of Anthropocene' focussing on climate change and theatre of Sunderbans, 2018
-Speaker and participant at 'The International Climate Change Theatre Consortium organised by Howlround. and Emerson University in Boston, 2018
References
- Akbar, Arifa (2 April 2019). "Abhishek Majumdar: the playwright fighting death threats with ice cream". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
- https://www.tibetanreview.net/pah-la-a-shallow-and-confusing-examination-of-tibetan-non-violent-resistance/
- Interview
- https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/apr/09/pah-la-review-royal-court-london
- https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/apr/02/abhishek-majumdar-interview-death-threats-pah-la-tibet-china
- https://www.firstpost.com/living/as-abhishek-majumdars-djinns-of-eidgah-is-staged-at-edinburgh-fringe-a-conversation-with-the-playwright-director-7175611.html
- https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2013/oct/22/djinns-of-eidgah-review
- https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/theatre/article4923874.ece
- https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/columns/columnists/shanta-gokhale/in-the-name-of-ram/articleshow/57045979.cms