Barry John (theatre director)

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{{short description|Indian theatre director}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Barry John
| image = Barryjohn.jpg
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth-date and age|1944}}
| birth_place = [[Coventry]], England
| death_date = 
| death_place =
| othername =
| occupation = Theatre director, actor, designer, writer, teacher
| years_active =
| spouse =
| domesticpartner =
| website = {{url|https://www.instagram.com/itsbarryjohn}}
}}
'''Barry John''' (born 1944) is a British-born, Indian theatre director and teacher. BARRY JOHN has resigned from "BARRY JOHN ACTING STUDIO" for various reasons. Now he is the face of "The Free Birds Collective" an actor training institute in Mumbai. He was the Founder-Director of 'Theatre Action Group' (TAG) (1973), one of the early theatre groups based in [[Delhi]].

In 1997, he launched Imago Media Company, and also started Imago Acting School in Delhi, both of which moved to [[Mumbai]] in March 2007. The school also got him recognition, as some of the alumni went on to become [[Bollywood]] actors, including [[Shah Rukh Khan|Shahrukh Khan]], [[Manoj Bajpai]], [[Sushant Singh Rajput]], [[Dulquer Salman]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/interview-sushant-singh-rajput-on-his-fallout-with-aditya-chopra-and-his-shah-rukh-khan-hangover-2453946|title = Sushant Singh Rajput on his FALLOUT with Aditya Chopra and his Shah Rukh Khan hangover}}</ref> [[Samir Soni]] and [[Shiney Ahuja]],<ref>[http://www.hindustantimes.com/News/artandculture/Theatre-is-at-an-all-time-low-in-Delhi/Article1-214549.aspx 'Theatre is at an all-time low in Delhi'] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606102630/http://www.hindustantimes.com/News/artandculture/Theatre-is-at-an-all-time-low-in-Delhi/Article1-214549.aspx |date=6 June 2011 }} [[Hindustan Times]], Mumbai, 9 April 2007.</ref><ref>[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1935840.cms The guru of Shah Rukh] [[The Times of India]], TNN 22 April 2007.</ref> as well as Hollywood actors including [[Freida Pinto]]<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/report.asp?newsid=1225923 |title=Freida Pinto thanks mentor Barry John for success |newspaper=[[DNA (newspaper)|Daily News & Analysis]] |date=29 January 2009 |access-date=23 February 2009}}</ref> and one of the top 10 US media companies CEO [[Samir Arora]]. He has been based in India since 1969. After moving to Mumbai his acting school was opened in Mumbai as 'The Barry John Acting Studio', situated in [[Andheri]].<ref>[http://ww.smashits.com/events/1856/1/The-Barry-John-Acting-Studio-Inauguration.html The Barry John Acting Studio – Inauguration] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090411064347/http://ww.smashits.com/events/1856/1/The-Barry-John-Acting-Studio-Inauguration.html |date=11 April 2009 }} 6 April 2007.</ref>

He was awarded the 1993 [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] for Theatre Direction by [[Sangeet Natak Akademi]], India's National Academy for Music, Dance and Theatre, and also the [[Sahitya Kala Parishad#Sahitya Kala Parishad Awards|Sahitya Kala Parishad Award]].

==Early life and education==
Barry John was born in 1944, in the industrial city of [[Coventry]], [[Warwickshire]] (now in the [[West Midlands (county)|West Midlands]]), England.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/barry-john-wins-major-theatre-award/story-m7l2pzYPQb6NcxrYI6z5gO.html | title=Barry John wins major theatre award | newspaper=Hindustan Times | first=Paramita | last=Ghosh | date=19 March 2020 | access-date=22 June 2021 }}</ref> His father, an engineer by profession, joined the navy during the world War II and his mother was a home-maker, and his younger sister was Christine.

By the age of 12, he had started selling newspapers, and pursued theatre in the evenings. At 15, his father fixed up a job for him at the factory where he worked. After finishing his schooling, he moved to London, but unable to find place in acting schools, he joined [[Leeds University]] at Leeds, [[West Yorkshire]]. There he trained to become a theatre teacher, for three years under John Hutchson, the head of department.<ref name=toi>[http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/delhi-times/the-drama-of-barry-johns-life/articleshow/29185414.cms The drama of Barry John's life] Divya Vasisht, [[The Times of India]], 23 November 2002.</ref>

==Career==
Deeply influenced by India, and its culture, during the [[hippie]] era, he even delved into the [[Upanishads]]. Then in 1968, Pandit Ravi Shankar staged a concert at the Coventry Cathedral, a few days later, he saw an ad in the newspapers for a teaching job in India, to which he applied. Thus at age of 22 he landed in [[Bangalore]], where he stayed for the next two years, teaching English during the day at Regional Institute of English on Cunningham Road, and doing radio programmes. Evenings were for amateur theatre, with Bangalore Amateur Dramatics Society and the Bangalore Little Theatre. After arriving in Delhi in 1970, he joined the 'Yatrik' theatre group, staying at the [[YMCA]] hostel and working as a freelance teacher in schools and colleges.

In 1973, he founded the Theatre Action Group (TAG), with [[Siddharth Basu]], [[Roshan Seth]], [[Lilette Dubey]], [[Mira Nair]], Ravi Dubey, [[Manohar Singh]], Khalid Tyabji, [[Pamela Rooks]], [[Surekha Sikri]] and [[Pankaj Kapoor]]; the group performed various forms of drama till 1977, when he joined as a faculty of the [[National School of Drama]], [[Delhi]] (1977–80), and later became the Founder-Director of the NSD's Theatre in Education Company (TIE)(1989).<ref name=toi/><ref>[http://imagoindia.com//Director.html Profile] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180328164932/http://imagoindia.com//Director.html |date=28 March 2018 }} IMAGO.</ref> He has been conducting theatre workshops ever since and in 1997, opened the 'Imago Acting School' in Delhi.

He also appeared in a few films, like [[Satyajit Ray]]'s ''[[Shatranj Ke Khilari]]'' (''The Chess Players'') (1977), [[Richard Attenborough]]'s ''[[Gandhi (film)|Gandhi]]'' (1982), ''[[Massey Sahib]]'' (1985). He also acted in several of his own productions, as well as that other director, including [[Roysten Abel]]'s ''Othello a Play in Black and White''. His recent film is ''[[Tere Bin Laden]]'' in which he is a United States security general.
<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090529183446/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2006/08/16/stories/2006081601070100.htm Star guru: Film stars such as Shah Rukh Khan have trained under him...] [[The Hindu]], 16 August 2006.</ref>

In 2007, he moved to Mumbai, where his acting school was opened as 'Barry John Acting Studio',<ref>[http://www.mumbaitheatreguide.com/dramas/interviews/steven_baker.asp Interview with Barry John] mumbaitheatreguide.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20140812185641/http://www.findurclass.com/furc/classes/Barry+John's+Acting+Studio--249--2274 Barry John Acting Studio In Mumbai ] FindURClass.</ref> in the same year, he also published a book "Playing for Real", published by Macmillan, a chronicle of 178 drama exercises for children, and co-authored by Rajan Chawla and Cathy Yogin, students of his Imago Theatre in Education Company,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121105111426/http://www.hindu.com/mp/2007/09/24/stories/2007092450030100.htm Barry John reveals past peeves and new hopes] [[The Hindu]], 24 September 2007.</ref>

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1977|| ''[[Shatranj Ke Khilari|Chess Players]]'' || ||
|-
|1982|| ''[[Gandhi (film)|Gandhi]]'' || Police Superintendent ||
|-
|1986|| ''[[Massey Sahib]]'' || Charles Adam ||
|-
|1992|| ''[[Miss Beatty's Children]]'' || John Westcott ||
|-
|2000|| ''[[Shaheed Udham Singh (film)|Shaheed Udham Singh]]'' || Michael Atlee ||
|-
|2003|| ''In Othello'' || Barry / Iago ||
|-
|2007|| ''[[The Great Indian Butterfly]]'' || ||
|-
|2009|| ''[[Thanks Maa]]'' || Priest ||
|-
|2010|| ''Teen Patti'' || ||
|-
|2010|| ''[[Tere Bin Laden]]'' || Ted Wood ||
|-
|2012|| ''[[Chittagong (film)|Chittagong]]'' || Wilkinson ||
|-
|2014|| ''[[M Cream]]'' || Vishnu Das ||
|}

==Awards==
* 1993: [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]: Theatre Direction.<ref>[http://www.sangeetnatak.org/sna/awardeeslist-theatre-direction.htm Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards – Theatre Direction] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903181327/http://www.sangeetnatak.org/sna/awardeeslist-theatre-direction.htm |date=3 September 2015 }} [[Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]] Official listings.</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name|0424134|Barry John}}
* [https://www.instagram.com/thefreebirdscollective/]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:John, Barry}}
[[Category:Indian theatre directors]]
[[Category:Indian male stage actors]]
[[Category:Drama teachers]]
[[Category:Indian male film actors]]
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Coventry]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Leeds]]
[[Category:National School of Drama faculty]]
[[Category:Male actors in Hindi cinema]]
[[Category:British emigrants to India]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award]]

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Barry John (theatre director)