# Mukul Ahmed

Mukul Ahmed (Bengali: মুকুল আহমেদ) is a British-Bengali theatre director and producer.

## Early life

In 1993, after moving to London, he saw an advert in the local newspaper that the old Half Moon Theatre wanted people to work on a play. He was selected and the production he worked on was Romeo and Juliet.

## Career

In 2007, Mukul completed a Master of Fine Arts in theatre directing at Birkbeck, University of London. In April 2007, he helped launch TARA Studio as curator of the first season, Hotbed, for young and emerging BME directors.
Mukul has directed a series of classics, new writing and play readings. His maiden direction of an adaptation of The Adventures of Baron Munchausen in 2007 earned him four stars from The Times theatre critic. Other major plays directed by Mukul are Julius Caesar, The Rape of Lucrece, Romeo and Juliet, LONDONEE, Devdas, Enig-mas, Silent Sister's-Brother's Unhinged, Rokeya's Dream (based on Sultana's Dream), and Gauhar Jaan.
Mukul has staff directed at the Royal National Theatre, and directed People's Romeo (based on Romeo and Juliet) and an all female multinational Julius Caesar for Tara Arts. In July 2010, he directed Tahmima Anam's A Golden Age for the Southbank Centre. Ahmed also programmed a Youth Shakespeare Festival season at Tara Arts in 2010 and ran the Tara Arts young actors programme, ArtsBeat. He also programmed a Black History Month Festival.
Mukul has done an attachment with the Royal National Theatre under the Stepchange bursary programme.
Mukul is the artistic director of Mukul and Ghetto Tigers, an East London-based theatre company.

## Works
### Theatre

| Play | Author | Venue | Year | Notes |
| Three Short Plays | Nick Bain | Theatre 503 | 2006 | |
| Adventure of Baron Munchausen | Rudolph Eric Raspe | Tara Studio | 2007 | World Premiere |
| Rape of Lucrece | William Shakespeare. Adapted by Todor Dimitrov | Tara Studio | 2008 | In English and Bulgarian. Tara Arts production |
| Print's of Denmark | Nick Bain | Edinburgh Fringe and Tara Studio | 2007 | Mixed Company and Tara Arts project. Short listed for the Amnesty Award |
| Sonata | Mahesh Elkunchwar. Adapted by Lisa Gazi and Mita Rahman | Tara Studio and International tour | 2008 | |
| night, Mother | Marsha Norman. Adapted by Mita Rahman | Dhaka, Bangladesh | 2009 | |
| Demon's Revenge/Meghnad Bodh Kavya | Michael Modhusudan Dutt. Prologue by Saymon Zakaria | British Council Auditorium, Dhaka, Bangladesh and Tara Studio | 2010 | Supported by the British Council |
| Rokeya's Dream | Begum Rokeya. Adapted by Rae Lever | Tara Studio, Rose Brufford College and Brady Arts Centre | 2009 | Produced by Mahila Sangha, Women's Group and Tara Arts |
| The Girl and The Pipeline | Paul Bilic | Tara Studio | 2008 | Tara Arts production |
| People's Romeo | William Shakespeare | Tara Studio and National tour | 2010 | Arts Council funded |
| A Golden Age | Tahmima Anam. Adapted by Jatinder Verma and Mukul Ahmed | The South Bank Centre and Rich Mix | 2009 and 2010 | Produced by Culturepot Global and Tara Arts |
| Julius Caesar | William Shakespeare | International tour | 2010 | All women multinational cast. Produced by Stage One Dhaka. Supported by the British Council |
| LONDONEE | Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti | Rich Mix and A Season of Bangla Drama | 2011 | World Premiere. Produced by Mukul and Ghetto Tigers (MGT) |
| Debdas | Farrukh Dhondy | Rich Mix | 2012 | Produced by MGT |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | William Shakespeare | Asian University for Women, Bangladesh | 2012 | Produced by AUW |
| Enig-mas | Raminder Kaur Kahlon | Rich Mix and Brady Arts Centre | 2013 | MGT production. Arts Council funded |
| Fair's not Fair | Raminder Kaur Kahlon | Peterborough | 2012 | Produced by Sussex University |
| Three Daughter's of Shakespeare | Farrukh Dhondy | International tour | 2013 | Produced by MGT |
| Faust | Farrukh Dhondy | International tour | 2014 | Produced by MGT, Supported by the Goethe Institute, Bangladesh and German Embassy, Bangladesh |
| The Dark Moon | Asok Barua | International tour | 2014 | Produced by BITA |
| Romeo and Juliet | William Shakespeare | Theatre Olympics, A Season of Bangla Drama, London and International tour | 2015-18 | Produced by MGT |
| Unsung | Ayndrila Singharay | Dartington Tagore Festival | 2013 | Produced by MGT and Red Mane Theatre. Arts Council funded |
| Commencing | Jane Shepard | Women in the Arts Festival, Tristan Bates Theatre | 2013 | Produced by MGT and the So So Arts Club |
| Punjabi Boy | Amman Brar | Rich Mix and Hounslow Arts Centre | 2016 | Produced by MGT and EK Punjaban Theatre |
| Punjabi Girl | Amman Brar | Rich Mix | 2016 | Produced by MGT and EK Punjaban Theatre |
| Altab Ali | Julie Begum | Brady Arts Centre and school tour | 2016-18 | Produced by Swadhinata Trust and MGT. Arts Council funded |
| Mishti Gals | Raminder Kaur Kahlon | A Season of Bangla Drama, London | 2016 | World Premiere. Co-produced with Sohaya Visions. Arts Council funded |
| Oscar and the Lady in Pink | Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt | International tour and A Season of Bangla Drama, London | 2016-17 | Co- produced with Alliance Francaise, Chittagong, Bangladesh and Bistaar, Bangladesh |
| Silent Sister's- Brother's Unhinged | Raminder Kaur Kahlon | National tour | 2017 | Co – produced with Sohaya Visions. Arts Council funded |
| Gauhar Jaan | Tarun Jasani | Omnibus Theatre | 2018 | ACE funded. Supported by EMI and The British Library |
| RABI’A | Tarun Jasani | Brady Arts Centre | 2017 | Co – produced with Sohaya Visions. Arts Council funded |
| To Father A Nation | Farrukh Dhondy | Rich Mix | 2018 | Arts Council funded |
| Mrityu Ghar (Olga's Room) | Dea Loher. Adapted by Atik Rahman | International Tour | | Supported by the Goethe Institute and German Embassy, Bangladesh. |

### Festival / event / community / dance / installation

| Event | Space | Year | Notes |
| Freedom | The Geffrye Museum | 2011 | Produced by MGT, supported by The Geffrye Museum |
| Tagore The Baul | St. Ethelburgas and Music Migration Festival | 2011 and 2012 | Produced by MGT |
| Fatal Hunt, dance drama by Tagore | The Geffrye Museum | 2012 | Produced by MGT, supported by The Geffrye Museum |
| The Flying Man – Tagore 150th Centenary | The British Library | 2012 | Produced by MGT, supported by The British Library |
| Durga Pooja - Kirtan | York Hall | 2012 | Produced by MGT |
| Manush – Installation and performance | NSH | 2014 | Produced by MGT |
| Ramayana the War Game | WOMAD | 2015 | Produced by MGT, supported by Sussex University |
| Manush – Nazrul Blake – Installation and performance | NSH | 2015 | Installation by Alice Sielle. Produced by MGT, supported by Songs of the city. |
| Abhijan – Traveler to a new destination | WOMAD | 2016 | Produced by MGT, supported by Sussex University |
| Maanusher Gaan – Songs for everyone | Oxford Harvest Festival, Brady Arts Centre. All Points East | 2017, 2018 & 2019 | Produced by MGT, supported by Sussex University. ACE funded |
| Fundraising event | Migrant Lives Matter, Sussex University | 2018 & 2019 | Produced by MGT, supported by Sussex University |
| All Points East | Victoria Park | 2019 | Produced by AEG Presents Ltd |
| Kadam – Stepping into the Future | Rich Mix | 2019 | Dance event. MGT production. ACE funded, supported by THC and Rich Mix |

### Opera

| Nazrul in Vienna | Concept – Judith Bingham. Composition -Oliver Weeks; Lyrics - Farrukh Dhondy and Buffy Sharpe | Rich Mix | 2017 | ACE funded |

## Personal life

Since 1990, Mukul has lived in Tower Hamlets, London.