Dipan Ray is one of the founder-members and currently the General Secretary of the Epic Actors' Workshop in the US. Originally formed in 1988 in New York, Epic Actors� Workshop and Choir is a not-for-profit company registered in New Jersey with a mission to showcase and underscore the importance of South Asian Theatre, mostly Bangla theatre, performance and arts within its community and in the larger context of mainstream American culture. Dipan Ray is a practicing Pharmacist and teacher in the related fields of his profession but theater is his passion. He started his theater career as an actor but felt obligated to devote his spare time for the promotion of Indian theatre into mainstream American Theatre. The third annual South Asian Theatre Festival took place between 26th and 28th September 2008 in New Jersey. It was held in collaboration with the New Jersey Performing Arts Centre (NJPAC) and Mrittika. Here Dipan Roy talks of the origins of the festival and of the likelihood of it being held in India in 2009.- Deepa Punjani.  Deepa Punjani Your company, The Epic Actors' Workshop first held the South Asian Theatre Festival in 2006. How did the idea for it come about? We were performing at the International Fringe Theater Festival in Off-Broadway, New York in 1997. I noticed that performers were coming from all over the world and were trying to promote their cultural heritage through theater in their own languages. It was a global family irrespective of race, religion and country working together in harmony during this festival. I was motivated to create a similar scenario. With the exception of the Exile Theatre of Afghanistan and the Bangladesh Theatre Forum, it appears that this year's edition of the festival was a showcase of performances- both dance and theatre from a few, local South Asian groups in the US. Is that how you had intended it? Is it always going to be like that? Since this is our first collaborative work with the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), which is the sixth largest cultural center in North America, we tried to reduce the number of performances to fit into their program. Our main objective is to promote local talent in the South Asian communities in the US and we will try to get more local shows in the future as we did in the past. What is the selection criteria for the festival? Is there a special committee for the same? We formed a festival committee comprising leaders from all South Asian Nations in the US. Selection right now is solely based on recommendation from the members representing each nation. Of course our main criteria is the quality of the production. But given the interest for participation, we will establish a more rigorous selection process in the future. There is a good possibility of you bringing the festival to India in 2009. What kind of performances can we look forward to? We will definitely try to give preference to the groups coming from South Asian nations but we will also consider selecting the best performances of the South Asian Theater Festival that is going to take place in the US this year. *The interviewer is Editor of this site, a theatre critic and an academic keenly interested in Theatre and Performance Studies. Tell us what you think of this Interview More Interviews Interview With Nadir khan, Devika Shahani and Avantika Bahl Tathagata Chowdhury Neeraj Shirvaikar Ram Ganesh Kamatham Tannaz Irani Lillete Dubey Sharodiya Chowdhury and Sarthak Sharma Interview With Vishaal Asrani and Jiji Subhi BAKUL THAKKAR AND SURYA GOVLE Devendra Rao Interview Sharvari Lohokare Interview Vijay Kenkre Interview Trupti Thakkar and Ankit Gor Interview Aditya Rawal and Zahan Kapoor Umesh Shukla Interview Interview With Juhi Babbar Soni Mallika Shah Interview J BRANDON HILL INTERVIEW Anahita Uberoi Interview Interview with Jeff Goldberg Dr. Shweta Pendse Interview Interview with jamini Pathak Ashok Pandey Gagan Dev Riar Interview Taranjit Kaur Pankaj Pathakji Interview Vipul Vithlani Interview Saurabh Nayyar Interview Mukta Barve Interview Vihaan Samat Interview Vijay Kumar Interview Umesh Kamat Interview Jatin Sarna Interview Debanshu Shekhar Interview Vandana Bhushan Interview Vikas Bahari Interview Trinetra Tiwari Interview Anand Ingale Interview Deshik Vansadia Interview Kapil Dev Interview Arvind Gaur Interview Niketan Sharma Interview Ipshita Chakraborty Singh Interview Ramesh Talwar Interview Nivedita Bhattacharya Interview Jeff Goldberg Interview Ajeet Singh Palawat Interview Amitosh Nagpal Interview Ajitesh Gupta Anshulika Dubey and Aakash Prabhakar Ulka Mayur Shiv Tandan Interview Hemant Jha Interview Sangita Joshi Interview Akarsh khurana Interview with Parul Rana Satchit Puranik Interview Raell Padamsee Interview Simar Singh Interview Siddharth Randeria Interview Chandrakant Kulkarni Interview Trishla Patel Interview Danish Husain Interview Anju Makhija Interview Swati Das Interview Paromita Chatterjee Interview Akriti Singh Interview Vivek Raj Tandon Interview Avneesh Mishra Interview Imran Rasheed Interview Choiti Ghosh Interview Ila Arun & KK Raina Juuhi Babbar Sonii Interview Jay Upadhyay Interview Bhakti Rathod Interview Chandrashekhar Gokhale Interview Preeta Mathur Interview Denzil Smith Interview Rajendra Butala Interview Amitesh Grover Interview Vighnesh Joshi Interview Rajesh Deshpande Interview Mohammad Ali Baig Interview Dolly Thakore Interview M. Sayeed Alam Interview Gaurav Singh and Akshay Raheja Interview Ramanjit Kaur Interview Vinay Varma Interview Daisy Irani Subaiah Interview Bhamini Oza Gandhi Interview Sapan Saran Interview Rasika Agashe Interview Shreyas Talpade Interview With Parul Rana Puneet Issar Interview Dipti Bramhandkar Interview Atul Kumar Interview With Parul Rana Ravi Mishra Interview Alpana Buch Interview Lalit Parimoo Interview Nimesh Interview Sejal Shah - Interview Mehul Buch Interview Sanat Vyas Interview with Jahnavi Pal Dayashankar Pandey Interview Deepak Gheewala Interview Darshan Jariwala Interview Feroz Bhagat Interview Roopa Divatia Interview Apara Mehta Interview with Jahnavi Pal Rajul Diwan Interview with Jahnavi Pal Sachin Khedekar Interview with Jahnavi Pal Sanjay Goradia Interview with Jahnavi Pal Utkarsh Mazumdar Interview With Jahnavi Pal Vandana Gupte Interview Bharati Achrekar Interview Manasi Prabhakar Joshi Interview Rohini Hattangadi Interview Meenal Patel Interview Pravin Solanki Avantika Shankar Interview with Deepa Punjani Rakesh Bedi Interview with Deepa Punjani Dhwani Vij Interview with Deepa Punjani Joy Fernandes Interview with Deepa Punjani Vikram Phukan Interview with Deepa Punjani Deepika Arwind Interview with Ayushi Shah Rohit Das Interview with Omkar Bhatkar Sukant Goel Interview with Omkar Bhatkar Sneh Sapru Interview with Ayushi Shah Puja Sarup Interview By Ayushi Shah Gurleen Judge interview by Ayushi Shah Faezeh Jalali Interview with Ayushi Shah Sophia Stepf Interview With Deepa Punjani Geetanjali Kulkarni Interview with Manvi Ranghar Gabriel Emanuel Ramu Ramanathan Interview With Deepa Punjani Manjari Fadnis Chandrakant Kulkarni Sunil Barve Interview Ira Dubey Interview with Manvi Ranghar Arundhati Nag Interview Malavika Rajkotia Purva Naresh Interview Shaili Sathyu Interview Bharat Dabholkar Rajat Kapoor Interview Yuki Ellias Sébastien Heins Akarsh Khurana Interview Juhi Babbar Soni Harish Patel Mirjam van Djik Asad Lalljee Sheeba Chadha Ila Arun - Interview Mallika Taneja Anurupa Roy Vipul Vilas Mahagaonkar Sneha Desai Suruchi Aulakh Geetanjali Kulkarni Sushama Deshpande Interview Choiti Ghosh Naveen Kaushik Nadir Khan Roberto Frabetti Anuja Ghosalkar Saurabh Shukla Interview Sunil Shanbag Interview Jean-Michel Adam Sachin Jadhav Rajat Kapoor THE META 2016 Festival Interview with the Directors of the Plays Pritesh Sodha Nimmy Raphel Shena Gamat Aniruddha Khutwad Gagan Dev Riar Paromita Chatterjee David Goodale Happy Ranajit Simon Reade Daniele Bartolini Glenn Hayden Ramu Ramanathan Interview Vikram Phukan Kalki Koechlin Interview Uttam Gada Adhir Bhat Vikranth Pawar Sudipto Chatterjee Ellen Rees Chris Edmund Iqbal Niyazi Sanjay Goradia Vinay Sharma Shafaat Khan Sanjukta Wagh Interview Sanjoy Roy Interview Tushar Pandey Anupama Chandrashekar Interview Deepa Gahlot Interviews Tony Adigun Ila Arun Interview Kare Conradi KK Raina Manoj Shah Interview Luckyjee Gupta Ajit Kelkar Syv Bruzeau Rupesh Tillu Vikash Khurana Jim Sarbh Mahesh Dattani Interview for SDDS Education Krutika Desai Dalip Sondhi Daniel Goldman and Benjamin Samuels Vir Das Interview Asghar Wajahat Deshik Vansadia Sushama Deshpande Rajiv Krishnan Interview Neeraj Kabi Tom Alter Ashvin Gidwani Interview Pip Utton Achyut Vaze Interview Deepak Kurki Shivaswamy Satish Alekar Interview Jaimini Pathak Interview Neel Chaudhuri Meherzad Patel Mahesh Dattani interview for THE BIG FAT CITY Nandini Trivedi Akash Mohimen Deepika Arwind Manjima Chatterjee Kath Mainland Anupam Kher Bijon Mondal Manoj Mitra Georges Banu Sudhanva Deshpande Interview Eric Vigner Deepa Gahlot1 Premanand Gajvi Rahul Varma Om Puri Nissar Allana Om Katare Interview Rajiv Krishnan Rashi Bunny Nandita Das Farooq Chaudhry D'Lo Shankar Tucker Ranvir Shah Ira Dubey Interview Ashok Patole Mathivanan Rajendran Saurabh Shukla Ashok Hande Nandu Madhav Sujata Goel Ratha Pathak Shah Shaili Sathyu(1) Shubhrajyoti Barat Preethi Athreya Corinne Jaber Rajesh Kumar and Rana Pratap Senger Arjun Sajnani Arundhati Ghosh Sudhanva Deshpande Raamu Ramanathan Sayeed Alam Zane Dalal Jumana Kapadia Shernaz Patel Satyadev Dubey1 Makarand Sathe1 Sankar Venkateswaran Sabera Shaik Achyut Vaze Hassan Abdulrazzak Amrita Lahiri Avaan Patel Neeta Reshamiya Ira Dubey Ila Arun Meenal Kapoor Shubha Mudgal & Aneesh Pradhan Kedar Shinde Khalid Mohamed Deepa Gahlot Sameer Vidwans Low Kee Hong Waman Kendre Andrea Gronemeyer Pradeep Vaiddya Padmini Chettur Kumud Mishra(1) Faruk Kabir Nandesh Umap Zuleikha Chaudhari Nausheen Ali Sardar Naseeruddin Shah Ahlam Khan Sunil Barve Saif Hyder Hasan Shweta Tiwari Neena Kulkarni Judy Hegarty Lovett Sunil Vishnu K Chetan Bhagat Ketki Dave Atul Parchure Vikram Gokhale Azaad Bharti Dr. Mohan Agashe Mahesh Manjrekar Chandradasan Lillette Dubey-I Kuljeet Singh Juhi Babbar Rajesh Khattar Gaurav Chopra Payal Rohatgi Feroz Abbas Khan Swanand Kirkire Vandana Sajnani-II Kevin Tayebaly Vahan Badalyan Chetanya Adib Payal Kapoor Rakesh Bedi Sameer Iqbal Patel Om Katare-II Shifalli Shah Simon McBurney Mujeeb Khan-II Akarsh Khurana Preeta Mathur Thakur Makrand Deshpande Manoj Shah (II) Manoj Shah Saumya Joshi Quasar Thakore Padamsee Mohit Takalkar Hari Mina Bala Jehan Manekshaw - Interview 2 Timira Gupta Jyoti Dogra Lillette Dubey Mahesh Dattani Chandan Roy Sanyal Sunil Shanbag (ii) Jairaj Patil Jehan Manekshaw K Raja Ravi Verma Sankar Venkateswaran Heisnam Tomba Hariharan Jamini Pathak Hilda David Satish Alekar Vir Das Ranjit Hoskote Om Katare Nipun Dharmadhikari Satyadev Dubey Dipan Ray Stefan Kaegi Zafar Karachiwala Dakxin Bajrange Makarand Sathe Ramu Ramanathann Cyrus Dastur Shekhar Sen Benjamin Juhel Chaitanya Tamhane And Sudeep Modak Sujata Mehta Asif Basra Barry John Nagesh Bhosale Astad Deboo Manhar Gadhia Sandesh Bhandare Usha Ganguli Sushama Deshpande & Suhas Joshi Jyoti Vyas Arundhati Nag Habib Tanvir Ramu Ramanathan Pushan Kripalani Harold Pinter Rajeev Ravindranathan Rajendra Gupta Viji Iyengar Sunil Shanbag Darshan Jariwalla Smriti Irani Atul Kumar1 Ashwin Gidwani Toral Shah Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal1 Shaili Sathyu Sanjay Narvekar Rohini Hattangady Dr. Ashok Ranade Vandana Sajnani Mahesh Elkunchwar Madhu Rye Mahesh Thakur Srimathi Madiman Kinnari Vohra Joy Fernandes C.K. Thakkar Jameel Khan Anupama Jayaram Lilelette Dubey Avatar Gill Dharmendra Gohil Rajesh Puri Kumud Mishra Kumar Shahu Meenal Patel Mujeeb Khan Anant Mudra Utkarsh Mazumdar Shekhar Sen1 Manav Kaul Rati Agnihotri Smita Jaykar Uday Chandra Rahul Da Cunha Atul Kumar Manoj Joshi Jaimini Pathak Boman Irani Mahabanoo Mody Kotwal Naseerudin Shah Joy Fernandez Kamlesh Mota Dinesh Thakur

Schedule Theatre Workshops Register a workshop | View all workshops

List Your Play

Get theatre updates in your inbox
subscribe to Mumbai Theatre Guide weekly updates