Jacob Rajan is a Malaysian-born-New Zealand

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

and actor. His highly successful plays include the trilogy ''Krishnan's Dairy'', ''The Candlestick Maker'' and ''The Pickle King''. Another work was ''The Dentist's Chair''. In 2002, he received the prestigious Laureate Art Award. All of Rajan's plays, except his first, ''Krishnan's Dairy'', were originally produced for his theatre company, Indian Ink Theatre Company, and co-written with director/writer Justin Lewis, co-founder of Indian Ink. Rajan was born in Malaysia to Indian parents, and migrated to New Zealand when he was four years old. After studying science at the University of Otago, he went to teacher's college, then studied acting and at Toi Whakaari New Zealand Drama School. He graduated in 1994 and has since appeared in different stage and screen productions as well as touring internationally. He appeared as Dr Ashwin Bhashar in the television soap '' Shortland Street''. With Justin Lewis, Rajan co-founded the

Indian Ink Theatre Company Indian Ink Theatre Company is a New Zealand theatre company founded by actor Jacob Rajan (b. 1966) and director/writer Justin Lewis (b. 1967). Founded in 1996, Indian Ink's first theatrical production was ''Krishnan's Dairy'', which went on to wi ...

in 1996. His most significant works are with this company and include the trilogy of plays which explore Indian themes, characters and stories. ''Krishnan's Dairy'', ''The Candlestick Maker'' and ''The Guru Of Chai'' have been extremely popular plays in NZ. In 1999, ''Krishnan's Dairy'' won the

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

First award. ''The Pickle King'' won the same award in 2003. Other work includes ''Kiss the Fish''. Rajan says he "writes the stories that move him – they might happen to have Indian elements just because that's his frame of reference, but he doesn't set out to write Indian plays."

Plays

* ''Krishnan's Dairy'' * ''The Candlestick Maker'' * ''The Pickle King'' * ''The Dentist's Chair'' * ''Guru of Chai'' * ''Kiss the Fish'' *''Paradise, or the Impermanence of Icecream''

References

External links

Rajan's theatre company, Indian Ink
* 21st-century New Zealand dramatists and playwrights New Zealand male stage actors New Zealand people of Indian descent Toi Whakaari alumni University of Otago alumni Living people Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit Year of birth missing (living people) New Zealand male soap opera actors 20th-century New Zealand male actors 21st-century New Zealand male actors New Zealand male dramatists and playwrights {{NewZealand-actor-stub