| Maxim Mazumdar | |
|---|---|
| Died | 28 April 1988 (aged 36)[1] Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| Occupation | Playwright, Director |
| Alma mater | Loyola College |
Maxim Mazumdar (1952 – April 28, 1988) was an Indo-Canadian playwright and director. He is known for his one-man show, Oscar Remembered, which tells the story of the Irish playwright Oscar Wilde as seen from the perspective of his lover and nemesis, Lord Alfred Douglas.
Mazumdar is the founder of the Phoenix Theatre in Montreal, Quebec,[2] as well as the Provincial Drama Academy and the Stephenville Theatre Festival in Stephenville, Newfoundland.[3]
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Maxim Mazumdar was born in 1952 to a dentist, Dr. Mark Mazumdar. He grew up in their family home at Charni Road, Mumbai, India. He attended Campion School in Mumbai. During this time, he had roles in several school productions, including Apsalom, Ordeal by Battle, and Oliver Twist, where he played the role of Fagin. In 1969, upon the death of his father, Mazumdar immigrated to Canada, along with his mother and brother, Mark.
Mazumdar enrolled in Loyola College (now part of Concordia University) in Montreal and graduated in 1972, with a degree in Communication Studies.[4]
After graduating from Loyola College, Mazumdar co-founded the now-defunct, Phoenix Theatre in Montreal. The theatre was intended for English productions. While at Phoenix, he directed and acted in his own works, as well as works by Noël Coward.[5]
It was while at Phoenix, that he wrote Oscar Remembered, a two-act play that examined the friendship between Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred Douglas. He performed his monologue across the US and Canada, including at the Stratford Festival.[5][6]
After leaving the Phoenix Theatre, he continued to write and direct his own plays, including Rimbaud and Dance for Gods. His works explored various aspects of gay history.
In 1976, while adjudicating at the Newfoundland Drama Festival, Mazumdar was impressed with the quality of the local production and decided to establish the Provincial Drama Academy in Stephenville, Newfoundland, offering theatre training to local youth. In 1979, he returned to Newfoundland and established the Stephenville Theatre Festival with the aim of bringing a professional theatre experience to people in Newfoundland. The Stephenville Theatre Festival was the first professional theatre festival in Newfoundland and Labrador.[7]
Over the next nine years, Mazumdar served as Artistic Director to the festival. During this time, led the production of several performances in collaboration with director Edmund MacLean and executive producer Cheryl Stagg. Notable productions included Macbeth, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Man Who Came To Dinner, and Cyrano de Bergerac.[8]
Mazumdar died of AIDS in Halifax, Nova Scotia on April 28, 1988.[1] Following his death, his play, Oscar Remembered, was revived at Stratford in 2000.[5]
In Mazumdar's honour, the Alleyway Theatre in Buffalo, New York grants the annual Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition Award, in remembrance of his contributions to the early growth of Alleyway.[9]