Ayad Akhtar, novelist, playwright and actor, was born on 28 October 1970 in New York City. Both his parents were doctors and had migrated from Pakistan to the United States. He grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and attended Brown University, majoring in theatre and religion, then moved to Italy and spent a year working with acting theorist and pioneer Jerzy Grotowski, author of
Towards a Poor Theater(1968). After returning to the US, Akhtar continued at Columbia University, earning a degree in directing from the Graduate Film Program, while teaching acting and working alongside Andre Gregory, the French-born actor and director, in New York City and Vienna, Austria.
Akhtar’s 2005 film The War Within literally sets the stage regarding the themes that would become the foundation of his
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Citation: Waterman, David. "Ayad Akhtar". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 December 2020 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14529, accessed 08 September 2024.]