Benil Biswas : A Brief Intro

Benil Biswas | Bënîl Biswas | Be - Nil

He is an Aesthete, Cultural commentator, Performer, and Scholar, who has been part of campus theatre both in Kolkata and Delhi for more than two decades now. Initially trained in Literature with BA and MA from Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandira College (University of Calcutta) and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, respectively, he completed his research (M.Phil. and Ph.D.) in Theatre and Performance Studies at School of Arts & Aesthetics, JNU, New Delhi. While doing his M.Phil., he joined academics and taught Literature for three years at various degree colleges at Delhi University, including Lady Shri Ram College for Women, where he was associated with the Dramatics Society (Dram Soc), before joining the School of Culture and Creative Expressions, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, Delhi in 2012.

In 2016, he attended the Mellon School of Theater and Performance Research, at Harvard University, Massachusetts, USA. He is also a visiting faculty at the National School of Drama, Delhi (NSD), Shri Ram Centre for Performing Arts, Delhi (SRC), Indian Institute of Management Bodhgaya (IIMBG) and many other prestigious institutions.

Eminent theatre and performance personalities like H. Kanhailal, Sabitri Devi, Jogesh Dutta, Rudra Prasad Sengupta, HS Shiva Prakash, Rustom Bharucha, Devendra Raj Ankur, Probir Guha, Navtej Johar, KS Rajendran, Ajay Kumar, Augusto and Julian Boal have shaped his conception about theatre and performance. His major areas of research are Cultural Studies, Theatre & Performance, Theatre of the Oppressed, Comparative Performance Studies, and traditional Indian Theatre. He has done extensive documentation of theatre in north-east of India, especially Assam, Meghalaya and Manipur, while working on his research about the initiation of a fresh approach towards the concept and definition of people’s art underlining how the ritual performance and folklorist past can help in conflict resolution and negotiate ‘modernity’. 

He is also a visual artist with a Shilpa-Visharad in Fine Arts from Sarbabharatiya Sangeet-O-Sanskriti Parishad, Calcutta and has been associated with the Bahroop Arts Group, New Delhi, for the last ten years in various capacities.

At present, He is an Assistant Professor, School of Culture and Creative Expressions, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar University, Delhi (AUD), where he teaches Performance Studies. He is also the Programme Coordinator of the M.A. Performance Studies ( 2019- till date.)