Roysten Abel was born in Kerala, South India. He did his schooling in Good Shepherd International School, Ooty. It was here that he started writing and directing plays. He started to study commerce in college, but changed then to the National School of Drama in England, which he graduated from in 1994. He apprenticed with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the same year. In 1995 he returned to India, where he founded the Indian Shakespeare Company. A major turning point in Roysten Abel’s life was in 1999 when he devised and directed his first original work „Othello“, a play in black and white. It won the Scotsman Fringe First Award, which brought him national and international recognition. A spate of original works followed, which Abel conceived and directed. Some of these plays were produced in India, some in Europe. He then started to work
with unemployed street performers (Magicians, Jugglers, Impersonators, Snake charmers, Acrobats, Musicians, Puppeteers etc.). His work was noticed in Italy, and he was invited to conceive and direct a play on Fellini in Rimini. In that same winter he created in India the play „The Spirit of Anne Frank“, which starred the biggest female stars in the country. Soon after this he produced his first feature film „Othello“ marked his first step into cinema.
Roysten Abel’s latest productions „The Manganiyar Seduction“ and „A hundred Charmers“ with a hundred snake charmers are currently on world tour. He just finished directing his latest creation at the historic Red Fort in New Delhi with 2000 folk artists. He is currently working on creating an International Folk Center in Jaisalmer, which is going to be set up by 2010.