Naren Weiss

Naren Weiss is a playwright and stage actor from India.

Early life

Naren Weiss grew up in Chennai, India. There, he attended Abacus Montessori School and later, Madras Christian College.^[1] At Madras Christian College he was a major part of their cultural competitive team.^[2] While he was in college, he hosted a television show, "UFX Magazine" on Channel UFX.^[3][4]

Career

Weiss co-wrote his first play, The Caesarians, in 2010. He followed this up with Vigilante vs. Vigilante, which was later adapted into a short film.^[5] The play premiered in Chennai.^[6] In 2011, he wrote Hallway Chronicles which was staged in Guwahati.^[7]

In 2012, he adapted independent musican Sidd Coutto's blog work for the stage as a play entitled The Horizon.^[8] The New Indian Express called it "a poetic account of the failing spirit of the Indie music industry."^[9]

In 2013, he wrote Kolaikaran Pettai and a surreal adaptation of Sherlock Holmes. The former was presented as a staged reading while Sherlock Holmes was performed in Kozhikode.^[10] Later that year, Weiss found more mainstream success as a playwright. He wrote Maya from Madurai which premiered at the Short and Sweet festival in Chennai.^[6][9][9] South Indian theatre company Stray Factory then toured the country with the one act play, as a part of The Park's New Festival.^[11][12]

He followed this up with Bollywood Kee-Maa, a play he co-wrote with four others including Sunil Vishnu. The play premiered at the prestigious Metroplus Theatre Festival in 2013.^[6] The play celebrated 100 years of Indian cinema and paid comical tribute to Bollywood. It opened to full houses as a part of the festival and, after its success in India, is set to premiere in Singapore at the end of 2013.^[13]

Apart from writing plays, he has written a number of theatrical sketches for Stray Factory. They have been performed across India as well as in Singapore.^[14] He is also a successful stage actor.^{[9][15][16][17][18][19][6][6][9]}

Playwright

• The Caesarians (co-writer), 2010
• Vigilante vs. Vigilante, 2010
• Hallway Chronicles, 2011
• The Horizon, 2012
• Kolaikaran Pettai, 2013
• Sherlock Holmes, 2013
• Maya from Madurai, 2013
• Bollywood Kee-Maa (co-writer), 2013
• Where are we Even Going?, 2013

References