Abhilash Pillai

Dr. Pillai began his career in theater as an art director at the Abhinaya Theatre and Research Centre, Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. He worked there from September 1999 to April 2001. Later, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor at National School of Drama, New Delhi and rose to become the Dean of Academics from July 2008 and June 2011. Presently, he is a visiting faculty/play director at many universities in India and abroad. He is also the Chairman of Arnav Art Trust since 2011 and a committee member of Natrang Pratishtan, New Delhi. He currently works as the Associate Professor at National School of Drama.

Abhilash Pillai (born 17 May 1969) is an Indian theater director, both pedagogue and scholar of contemporary Indian theatre.

Abhilash Pillai was born on 17 May 1969 at Thiruvananthapuram to S.R.K. Pillai and Sarada Pillai. In 1991, he completed his Bachelor of Theatre Arts from The School of Drama, University of Calicut and secured third rank. He also completed a three-year Postgraduate Diploma in Dramatics with a specialization in Design and Direction from the National School of Drama (NSD), New Delhi, with distinction in 1994. He then obtained a two-year Diploma in Theater Production and Stage Management with honors from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), London in 1998. He also did a one-year intensive training in advanced theater direction in association with eminent directors in the Orange Tree Theater, United Kingdom during 1998 and 1999 and attained his PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi in 2012.