Maxim Mazumdar (27 January 1952 – 28 April 1988) was an

Indo-Canadian Indian Canadians are Canadians who have ancestry from India. The term ''East Indian'' is sometimes used to avoid confusion with Indigenous groups. Categorically, Indian Canadians comprise a subgroup of South Asian Canadians which is a furthe ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

and

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

. He is known for his one-man show, ''

Oscar Remembered Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer J ...

'', which tells the story of the Irish playwright

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

as seen from the perspective of his lover and nemesis,

Lord Alfred Douglas Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945), also known as Bosie Douglas, was an English poet and journalist, and a lover of Oscar Wilde. At Oxford University he edited an undergraduate journal, ''The Spirit Lamp'', that carr ...

. Mazumdar is the founder of the Phoenix Theatre in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, as well as the Provincial Drama Academy and the Stephenville Theatre Festival in Stephenville,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

Early life

Maxim Mazumdar was born 27 January 1952 to Millicent and Dr. Mark Mazumdar, a dentist. He grew up in their family home at

Charni Road Charni Road (Marathi pronunciation: ͡ʃəɾniː ɾoːɖ is a neighbourhood in the southern part of Mumbai. It is served by Charni Road railway station. Geography and Location Charni Road is strategically located along the western coastli ...

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He attended Campion School in Mumbai. During this time, he had roles in several school productions, including ''Apsalom'', ''Ordeal by Battle'', and ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', is the second novel by English author Charles Dickens. It was originally published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and as a three-volume book in 1838. The story follows the titular orphan, who, ...

'', where he played the role of

Fagin Fagin () is the secondary antagonist in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist''. In the preface to the novel, he is described as a " receiver of stolen goods". He is the leader of a group of children (the Artful Dodger and Charley Bates ...

. In 1969, upon the death of his father, Mazumdar immigrated to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, along with his mother and brother, Malcolm. Mazumdar enrolled in Loyola College (now part of

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

) in

and graduated in 1972, with a BA degree in Communication Arts.

Career

Towards the end of his last year at Loyola, Mazumdar joined Janet Barkhouse, Jordan Deitcher and Sharron Wall in founding Raven Productions, which over a period of two years presented Shakespeare, Wilde, Coward and Beckett in both traditional venues and as "Salon Theatre" around Montreal. Their 1973 production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, in which Mazumdar played Martha as a man, gained international notoriety after its closing by the author was written about in the New York Times and elsewhere. Later, Mazumdar co-founded the now-defunct Phoenix Theatre in Montreal. The theatre was intended for

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

productions. While at Phoenix, he directed and acted in his own works, as well as works by

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

. It was while at Phoenix, that he wrote ''Oscar Remembered'', a two-act play that examined the friendship between

and

. He performed his monologue across the US and Canada, including at the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a repertory theatre organization that operates from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shak ...

. After leaving the Phoenix Theatre, he continued to write and direct his own plays, including ''Rimbaud'' and ''

Dance for Gods Dance is an art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or ...

''. His works explored various aspects of

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

history. In 1979, while adjudicating at the Newfoundland and Labrador Drama Festival, Mazumdar was impressed with the quality of the local productions and decided to establish the Provincial Drama Academy in Stephenville, Newfoundland, offering theatre training to local youth. That same year, he established the Stephenville Theatre Festival with the aim of bringing a professional theatre experience to the people in western Newfoundland. The Stephenville Theatre Festival was the first professional theatre festival in

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

. Over the next nine years, Mazumdar served as artistic director to the festival. During this time, he led the production of several performances in collaboration with

Edmund MacLean and executive producer Cheryl Stagg. Notable productions included ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'', ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Life of Jesus in the New Testament, Gospels' accounts of Passion of Jesus, the Passion, the work interprets ...

'', ''

The Man Who Came To Dinner ''The Man Who Came to Dinner'' is a comedy play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted on October 16, 1939, at the Music Box Theatre in New York City, where it ran until 1941, closing after 739 performances. It then enjoyed a number of ...

'', and ''

Cyrano de Bergerac Savinien de Cyrano de Bergerac ( , ; 6 March 1619 – 28 July 1655) was a French novelist, playwright, epistolarian, and duelist. A bold and innovative author, his work was part of the libertine literature of the first half of the 17th ce ...

''. Mazumdar united once again with director Jordan Deitcher for two shows in New York City, playing King Lear in Raven's 1984 production at the Park Royal Theatre, and writing and appearing in the 1985 Off-Broadway world premiere of The Bentley Variations (aka Unholy Trinity), a cabaret about the role and treatment of the visionary in society, based on the works of Eric Bentley.

Death

Mazumdar died of

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

on 28 April 1988. Following his death, his play, ''Oscar Remembered'', was revived at Stratford in 2000. In Mazumdar's honour, the Alleyway Theatre in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

grants the annual Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition Award, in remembrance of his contributions to the early growth of Alleyway.

Legacy

Maxim Mazumdar's time developing and producing the Stephenville Theatre Festival with his friend Cheryl Stagg was the focus of the

College of the North Atlantic College of the North Atlantic (CNA, formerly CONA) is one of the largest post-secondary educational and skills training centres in Atlantic Canada, with a history dating back 50 years. The college has 17 campus locations throughout the province ...

's 2018 Digital Filmmaking intersession film project ''The Impossible Dream''..

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazumdar, Maxim Indian emigrants to Canada 1988 deaths 1952 births 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian theatre directors Indian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights Writers from Mumbai AIDS-related deaths in Canada Gay dramatists and playwrights LGBTQ theatre managers and producers People from Stephenville, Newfoundland and Labrador Writers from Montreal Writers from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian theatre managers and producers Canadian male stage actors Canadian gay writers Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people