Abhishek Majumdar is an Indian playwright and theatre director. Born into a Bengali family, he grew up in Delhi and now lives in Bangalore. He is currently the artistic director of ' Bhasha Centre' which is a company that performs across Indian and other South Asian languages with a focus on Gender studies and Dalit Studies. He is also the ex-artistic director and founder of Indian Ensemble. He is best known for plays such as The Djinns of Eidgah and Pah-la, both of which have been staged in London. Other plays include Harlesden High Street, An Arrangement of Shoes, Afterlife of Birds, Rizwaan and Gasha. His plays have been performed in Asia, Europe, Latin America, USA, and Canada. He also teaches a playwriting course in NYU, Abu Dhabi. His course in NYU is featured in the Global Playwriting Handbook to be published in 2020 by Methuen Press which lists exercises and ideas from some of the most diverse playwriting classes across drama schools and universities.
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. Majumdar's work has been translated to English, Hindi, Bangla, Marathi, and French. He writes in English, Hindi, and Bangla. 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 and the National Theatre in London. His current works in progress are about Contemporary Tibet / Future of Non-Violence and about Quranic Exegesis/ Tafseer in the contemporary world. He has been published by Oberon books, Bloomsbury and Palgrave.
