Roysten Abel is a noted

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n theatre director and playwright, known for

devised theatre Devised theatre – frequently called collective creation – is a method of theatre-making in which the script or (if it is a predominantly physical work) performance score originates from collaborative, often improvisatory work by a performing ens ...

and plays involving folk performers, and productions like ''Othello in Black and White'', ''Flowers'', ''The Manganiyar Seduction'', and ''A Hundred Snake Charmers''.

Early life and education

Born in Kerala, he grew up in

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

, Kerala and did his schooling from

Good Shepherd International School, Ooty Good Shepherd International School is a residential school founded in 1977, located at Ootacamund (Ooty), in Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu, India on a campus. Facilities on the campus include classrooms and laboratory blocks, two lecture theatres, two ...

. Thereafter he joined

Christ College, Bangalore CHRIST - Deemed to be University is a deemed to be university in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. Founded in 1969 as Christ College, the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India conferred autonomy to Christ College in 2004. On 22 July 2008 i ...

to study commerce, however he was determined to not join his family business. Instead, he left it and joined School of Drama, Thrissur. He left one year before completion, when he received a scholarship to join 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 ...

, Delhi. He graduated from NSD in direction in 1994, also in the same year, he apprenticed with the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

, England for a year.

Career

After his return from England, Abel started his career by forming Indian Shakespeare Company in 1995, intending to stage works of Shakespeare. Eventually in 1999, he directed his first original production in 1999, ''Othello – a Play in Black and White'', which won a

Fringe First The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

Award at Edinburgh before touring internationally. The plays depicts stage actors rehearsing Shakespeare's ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

'', and gradually begins to deal with issues like elitism and racism. He later also adapted the play and directed film, ''In Othello'' (2003), with

Sheeba Chaddha Sheeba Chaddha is an Indian film, stage and television actress. Early life and career Chaddha grew up in Delhi, where she developed interest in theatre and started taking theatre workshops. She majored in English literature from Hans Raj Colle ...

Adil Hussain Adil Hussain () is an Indian actor who has worked in Indian cinema, including art house cinema and mainstream Bollywood, as well as international cinema, in films such as ''The Reluctant Fundamentalist'' and ''Life of Pi'' (both 2012). He rece ...

Barry John Barry John (born 6 January 1945) is a former Welsh rugby union fly-half who played, during the amateur era of the sport, in the 1960s, and early 1970s. John began his rugby career as a schoolboy playing for his local team Cefneithin RFC befor ...

as leads. Inspired by the

2002 Gujarat riots The 2002 Gujarat riots, also known as the 2002 Gujarat violence, was a three-day period of inter-communal violence in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The burning of a train in Godhra on 27 February 2002, which caused the deaths of 58 Hin ...

, he directed ''The Spirit of Anna Frank'' in 2002, which dealt with themes of gender and caste-violence, as five women meet in a compartment on a night train. The ensemble cast included

Shabana Azmi Shabana Azmi (born 18 September 1950) is an Indian actress of Hindi film, television and theatre. One of India's most acclaimed actresses, Azmi is known for her portrayals of distinctive, often unconventional female characters across several ge ...

Zohra Sehgal Zohra Mumtaz Sehgal (born Sahibzadi Zohra Mumtazullah Khan Begum; 27 April 1912 – 10 July 2014) was an Indian actress, dancer, and choreographer. Having begun her career as a member of a contemporary dance troupe, she transitioned into acting ...

Nandita Das Nandita Das (born 7 November 1969) is an Indian actress and director. She has acted in over 40 feature films in ten different languages. Das appeared in the films ''Fire'' (1996), ''Earth'' (1998), '' Bawandar'' (2000), '' Kannathil Muthamittal' ...

and Mandakini Goswami. This was followed by ''Perfect Evening'', which premiered in Delhi in 2005. In 2006, he directed

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

's ''Flowers''. His next important production was ''The Manganiyar Seduction'', a show which featured over 40 Manganiyar musicians from Rajasthan, the set design was inspired in part by the

Hawa Mahal The Hawa Mahal is a palace in the city of Jaipur, India. Built from red and pink sandstone, it is on the edge of the City Palace, Jaipur, and extends to the ''Zenana'', or women's chambers. The structure was built in 1799 by the Maharaja Sawai ...

in Jaipur, and also by the red light district of Amsterdam. The play opened in New Delhi in 2006, and thereafter travelled to the UK, US, Germany, Austria and Australia. The 2013 production ''The Kitchen'', had 12

mizhavu A mizhav or mizhavu (Malayalam: മിഴാവ്) is a big copper drum played as an accompanying percussion instrument in the Koodiyattam and Koothu, performing arts of Kerala. It is played by the Ambalavasi Nambiar community. After 1965, when ...

drummers from Kerala playing, with traditional dessert

payasam Kheer, also known as payasam, is a sweet dish and a type of wet pudding popular in the Indian subcontinent, usually made by boiling milk, sugar or jaggery, and rice, although rice may be substituted with one of the following: daals, bulgur w ...

is also cooked on stage, which served amongst the audience after the show. It opened at

International Theatre Festival of Kerala International Theatre Festival of Kerala (ITFoK) is an international theatre festival held every year in December in Thrissur city of Kerala State, India. The festival is organised by Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi and Cultural Department of Go ...

in December 2013.

Personal life

He is married to Assamese actress Mandakini Goswami, who he met while studying as National School of Drama. The couple live in Kerala.

Plays

* ''Othello – a Play in Black and White'' (1999) * ''The Spirit of Anna Frank'' (2002) * ''The Manganiyar Seduction'' (2006) * ''The Kitchen'' (2013)

References

External links

Roysten Abel, website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abel, Roysten Indian theatre directors Living people Writers from Palakkad National School of Drama alumni Edinburgh Festival performers Indian male dramatists and playwrights Year of birth missing (living people) Christ University Dramatists and playwrights from Kerala 21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Indian male writers Christ University alumni