Barry John

Barry John came to India in 1968 for a year of voluntary work and stayed to become one of the country’s most influential theatre teachers. In 2025 he was named for the Padma Shri in the field of art, from Delhi ^[1].

From Coventry to Bangalore

Barry John was born on 2 February 1946 in Coventry, in Britain, and trained as a drama teacher at Bretton Hall College, Leeds University ^[2]. In 1968 he came to India with a voluntary agency, training English teachers in Bangalore, Coimbatore and Mysore, and began acting with local theatre groups ^[2].

Delhi’s theatre scene

In 1970 he moved to Delhi to join the Yatrik theatre group, and ran workshops for children and productions for Delhi University colleges ^[2]. In 1973 he co-founded Theatre Action Group (TAG), one of Delhi’s most active companies for the next 25 years, and explored using drama with people with disabilities and disadvantaged communities ^[2].

He taught at the National School of Drama, where he was the founding director of its Theatre-in-Education Company from 1989 to 1992 ^[2]. He now directs The Free Birds Collective, which trains actors for stage and screen ^[2].

He has also acted in films including Gandhi, Shatranj Ke Khilari and Tere Bin Laden, and has been honoured by the Sangeet Natak Akademi ^[2].