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'''Roysten Abel''' is a noted [[India]]n theatre director and playwright, known for [[devised theatre]] and plays involving folk performers, and productions like ''Othello in Black and White'', ''Flowers'', ''The Manganiyar Seduction'', and ''A Hundred Snake Charmers''.<ref>{{cite web | title = Payasam for the soul|publisher=The Hindu| url = http://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/theatre/payasam-for-the-soul/article4956200.ece | date=26 July 2013|accessdate = 2014-03-06 | first = Sravasti | last = Datta }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Mystical, sexy ‘Manganiyar Seduction’ plays Miami Nov. 8|author=Jordan Levin |publisher=Miami Herald| url = http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/11/01/3725640/mystical-sexy-manganiyar-seduction.html |date=11 January 2013| accessdate = 2014-03-06 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Roysten Abel to continue theatrical journey with 'Othello' |author= Nirmala Ravindran |date=7 August 2006|publisher= India Today| url = http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/roysten-abel-othello-a-play-in-black-and-white/1/180901.html| accessdate = 2014-03-06 }}</ref><br />
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==Early life and education==<br />
Born in Kerala, he grew up in [[Palakkad]], Kerala and did his schooling from [[Good Shepherd International School, Ooty]]. Thereafter he joined [[Christ College, Bangalore]] to study commerce, however he was determined to not join his family business. Instead, he left it and joined [[School of Drama and Fine Arts|School of Drama, Thrissur]]. He left one year before completion, when he received a scholarship to join the [[National School of Drama]], Delhi. He graduated from NSD in direction in 1994, also in the same year, he apprenticed with the [[Royal Shakespeare Company]], England for a year.<ref name=national/><ref name=hindu11>{{cite web | title = ...Charmed by the stage |publisher= The Hindu| url = http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/charmed-by-the-stage/article2721876.ece|date=17 December 2011| accessdate = 2014-03-07 }}</ref><br />
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==Career==<br />
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]] Award at Edinburgh before touring internationally.<ref name=hin10>{{cite news |title=Role call |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/article621922.ece |publisher=The Hindu |date=9 September 2010 |accessdate=7 March 2014}}</ref> The plays depicts stage actors rehearsing Shakespeare's ''[[Othello]]'', and gradually begins to deal with issues like elitism and racism.<ref name="HodgdonWorthen2008">{{cite book|author1=Barbara Hodgdon|author2=W. B. Worthen|title=A Companion to Shakespeare and Performance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dZnoV-mfxmUC&pg=PA132|year=2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-5023-1|pages=132–}}</ref> He later also adapted the play and directed film, ''In Othello'' (2003), with [[Sheeba Chaddha]], [[Adil Hussain]], [[Barry John (theatre director)|Barry John]] as leads.<ref>{{IMDb name|1431069}}</ref><br />
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Inspired by the [[2002 Gujarat riots]], 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]], [[Zohra Sehgal]], [[Nandita Das]] and Mandakini Goswami.<ref name="Nubile2003">{{cite book|author=Clara Nubile|title=The Danger of Gender: Caste, Class and Gender in Contemporary Indian Women's Writing|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JlgAkHqGyMoC&pg=PA106|year=2003|publisher=Sarup & Sons|isbn=978-81-7625-402-1|pages=106–}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Interview : For an able act | url = http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/10/14/stories/2005101402650100.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060304052503/http://www.hindu.com/fr/2005/10/14/stories/2005101402650100.htm | url-status = dead | archive-date = 4 March 2006 |date=14 October 2005| work = [[The Hindu]] | accessdate = 2014-03-07}}</ref> This was followed by ''Perfect Evening'', which premiered in Delhi in 2005.<ref>{{cite book|title=Running Capital|publisher=Outlook|page=228|date=Volume 45, Issues 1-8, 2005|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3_svAQAAIAAJ}}</ref> In 2006, he directed [[Girish Karnad]]'s ''Flowers''.<ref>{{cite web | title = I had to surrender, says director Roysten Abel |publisher=DNA, India| url = http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/salon-i-had-to-surrender-says-director-roysten-abel-1086705 |date=23 March 2007| accessdate = 2014-03-06 }}</ref><br />
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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]] 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.<ref name=mint>{{cite web | title = Something’s cooking on stage|publisher= Livemint | url = http://www.livemint.com/Leisure/3R3jFfvNu1WQhDpwmztReL/Somethings-cooking-on-stage.html|date= 25 July 2013|accessdate = 2014-03-06 }}</ref><br />
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The 2013 production ''The Kitchen'', had 12 [[mizhavu]] drummers from Kerala playing, with traditional dessert [[payasam]] is also cooked on stage, which served amongst the audience after the show. It opened at [[International Theatre Festival of Kerala]] in December 2013.<ref name=national>{{cite web| title = Roysten Abel’s multi-sensory The Kitchen play gets the audience involved |publisher= The National | url = http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/on-stage/roysten-abels-multi-sensory-the-kitchen-play-gets-the-audience-involved |date= 27 January 2014| accessdate = 2014-03-07}}</ref><ref name=mint/><br />
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==Personal life==<br />
He is married to Assamese actress Mandakini Goswami, who he met while studying as National School of Drama. The couple live in Kerala.<ref name=hindu11/><br />
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==Plays==<br />
* ''Othello – a Play in Black and White'' (1999)<br />
* ''The Spirit of Anna Frank'' (2002)<br />
* ''The Manganiyar Seduction'' (2006)<br />
* ''The Kitchen'' (2013)<br />
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== References ==<br />
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<references /><br />
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==External links==<br />
* [http://www.roystenabel.com/ Roysten Abel, website]<br />
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[[Category:Indian theatre directors]]<br />
[[Category:Living people]]<br />
[[Category:Writers from Palakkad]]<br />
[[Category:National School of Drama alumni]]<br />
[[Category:Edinburgh Festival performers]]<br />
[[Category:Indian male dramatists and playwrights]]<br />
[[Category:Year of birth missing (living people)]]<br />
[[Category:Christ University]]<br />
[[Category:Dramatists and playwrights from Kerala]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian dramatists and playwrights]]<br />
[[Category:21st-century Indian male writers]]<br />
[[Category:Christ University alumni]]</div>>GreenC bot