Reviews for work as
Theatre Director ¤ Playwright and Actor
Woyzech
"Ishwar Maharaj's adaption and direction of Woyzeck is more than just a theatrical performance, it is a journey into man hidden nooks.
Woyzeck is a well thought out, deeply analyzed and implemented in an original package, which offers viewers an unusual theatrical experience."
Irmeli Haapanen
TURUN SANOMAT
Orlando
"Ishwar Maharaj’s direction of Orlando is attentive and nuanced. The whole (of the play) is built up by layers, touching on mysterious and keeps the viewer guessing. The perception of time in the play is not linear, the layers of time meet overlapping and interfacing; the layers pierce each other. In this way Vertigo’s interpretation can be characterised as even mythical."
Jouko Grönholm
TEATTERI&TANSSI+SIRKUS
bOOk of little things
"Ishwar Maharaj does not only master the words, the structure and the genre of Le Theatre de l'Absurde, his direction skills prove excellent at revealing the best of his crew. Ishwar Maharaj will soon count among the masters.
Remember his name! Watch this space! "
L'ARTOCARPE
"A madcap scatter gun attack on the absurdity of war. This play will linger long in the minds of all those who see it." FUNCTION PIX
from TIME OUT's
EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT...section
"Genius! Words cannot describe."
MIRIAM KRIETZ
"Treat yourself to a bit of absurdist delight. British theatre as it rarely is."
BELETTE CHACHACH
"I thoroughly enjoyed 'Little Book of Things', not only was it beautifully acted, it was thought provoking - I'm still thinking about it a week on - the writing of the play was so clever that it kept you guessing and thinking of all the different ways in which the characters could be linked or indeed if Scarlet Billows was actually just many facets of one person. I laughed in places but was touched by others. I think Ishwar Maharaj is an unsung hero, so go along and see this beautiful piece of theatre in South London!"
JESSICA WARD
"Theatre this fresh and original deserves to be seen."
BILL MYERS
from TIME OUT's
EVERYONE'S TALKING ABOUT...section
“Really great show. Brilliant acting and directing.”
Christopher Rodriguez, Associate Director @Talawa Theatre Co.
Ella Gray
."Ella Gray is flawless and playwright & director, Ishwar Maharaj controls the play with effects that are impossible to underrate. The stylish balancing act of the presentation in the space is a real testament of skill. The meetings between Young & Old Ella and the mirroring of each other are especially touching.”
Frida Gustafsson
TURUN SANOMAT
Leviatan
5 Stars ***** 'An impressive science fiction theatre. Teatteri Vertigo's Leviatan is an excellent modern science fantasy where the future of dystopia is linked to history, philosophy and climate change. Forum Marinum's Attic is an excellent milieu for the play and the space is exceptionally well used in the presentation.'
Frida Maria Pessi
TURUN SANOMAT
nO-bOdy nOse
"The multinational production (nO-bOdy nOse) is quite entertaining and playwright Ishwar Maharaj, who also gives a wondering optimism to his role as Man with Box, has a light touch with some of the genuinely comic scenes. He has created a nice double act in Handsome and Delicious, the vain, bickering owners of Butter My Buns bakery". TIME OUT
"nO-bOdy nOse made me forget myself completely. I'm normally dubious of the proposed marriages between text and physical theatre, but this was just perfectly done - the physicalisation being the most suitable means of telling the story (of the text). A charming and magical piece of theatre".
GUARDIAN Culture Blog.
On the script for nO-bOdy nOse
"nO-bOdy nOse is an unusual and assured piece of writing. It contains a number of literary echoes from the Absurdists (particularly N.F.Simpson) to Gogol and has an innate theatricality." SAMUEL FRENCH PUBLISHERS
"I found this piece most entertaining." Jack Bradley
National Theatre
"nO-bOdy nOse is spirited and accessible play and I admired its ambition." Ruth Little
Young Vic Theatre Company
"It is a clever piece of drama about language, logic and the human search." Tamasha Theatre Co.
"Ishwar maharaj has written a witty and beguiling play which deserves to be seen." Jonathan Kent
Theatre & opera director
Hidden Place
"Hidden Place wonders what it is like to live as a woman under a fascist government...
The actresses working in an almost empty stage has a strong emotional charge."
Annina Karku
TURUN SANOMAT
Sweet bird of youth
"An ambitious production. British director Ishwar Maharaj reveals that the group has really thought about Williams' themes, such as publicity, vanity, narcissism, shame, loneliness and the importance of the 2000s man."
Annina Karhu
TURUN SANOMAT
All Things Asian And Not
"A hot, new act providing musical and thought-provoking banter on role reversal, drugs and mixed marriages."
EASTERN EYE
Antigone
“Ishwar Maharaj strikes the right casual and slightly sinister note as the narrator and observer.”
TIME OUT
Storm In A Teacup
"Ishwar Maharaj (Ferdinand) and Ruth Harris (Miranda) manage to rescue the magic."
THE LIST
Merchant Of Vembley
'The seasoned pros Rohit Gokani, Emilio Doorgasingh and Anil Goutam, and Ishwar Maharaj act as the pillars of the production, whilst allowing the younger members of the cast to shine. Ishwar Maharaj, who plays four separate characters, delivers a particularly impressive monologue as Tooranpoi.'
IKONZ - Jay Rai
'Little jokes about Bollywood or that included Hindi phrases that large sections of the audience laughed hard at were often produced by Ishwar Maharaj in one of many comedic guises, each funny in different ways, needing different timings and temperaments, that were all done spectacularly.'
EVERYTHING THEATRE - James Tennent
Sweetest Gift
"Ishwar Maharaj and Daniel Mckenna; a fatal attraction which is quite convincing.”
THE PINK PAPER
“Ishwar Maharaj catches the nervousness of Jeremy, in contrast to the apparent placidity of Daniel McKenna Colin.”
WHAT’'S ON
Hamlet
"The banquet, in which The Players, (Toby Sedgewick, Clive Mendus and Ishwar Maharaj), perform the murder of Gonzago in pantomime is both funny and creepy.”
THE SUNDAY TIMES
“The best bits are the foot-tapping drinking songs and the only notable scene, The Players panto.”
THE TIMES
"There is little that is visually striking in the production, the chief exception is the play scene, where the players' dumb show - in which they are in effect acting out the murder of Hamlet's father - casts monstrous shadows over the perpetrators sitting behind’."
music OHM
A Child Of Our Time
"Timothy Robinson and Ishwar Maharaj on an operatic journey from darkness into light."
THE TIMES
"Only a slim young man (Ishwar Maharaj) advertising Y-fronts remained to take the burden of Tippet's portentous vision." EVENING STANDARD
"Gym bunny in Y-fronts"
THE INDEPENDANT
"When things turned nasty, the crowd stripped and killed a group of refugees; one young man, (Ishwar Maharaj) clad only in a pair of dingy underpants, survives and becomes the young man who commits the assassination which is at the heart of the oratorio. But he also represents a sacrificial victim. At the end of part 2, after the assassination, he is buried only to be reborn with a tree at the opening of part 3."
ENSEMBLE
Cosi Fan Tutte
In a role that was created specially for Ishwar“Hunky actor, Ishwar Maharaj shimmies in and out of the action looking good enough to eat; a nice theatrical touch in an opera that once had the reputation of being more than somewhat misogynistic.Aminta WallaceTHE IRISH TIMES
Rigoletto
'The orgy that opens the opera was much more graphic than I recall. A lengthy all-male ménage à trois (Ishwar Maharaj, Jonathan Fisher and Jochem Van Ast) takes place at an open, upper window, whilst below the Duke discusses his new ‘interest’, Gilda.'
CLASSICAL SOURCE
Shakespeare For Breakfast
"The cast of five, Angela Bleasedale, Rebecca Cooper, Mark Gibbs, Ishwar Maharaj and Tegwen Tucker, were obviously having huge fun with the singing, dancing and multiple action and it infected the room. I wasn’t Bard once.”
THE SCOTSMAN
“A selection of fine young actors, Angela Bleasedale, Rebecca Cooper, Mark Gibbs, Ishwar Maharaj and Tegwen Tucker put a spin on the works of William Shakespeare. They employ every known device to entertain and succeed big style.”
WWW.ONE4REVIEW.COM
Lohengrin
"what are we to make of the impassioned kiss between Elsa (Edith Haller) and Gottfried (Ishwar Maharaj), her young brother’s return to human form at the close? Has Ortrud’s paganism infected Brabant after all?"
THE INDEPENDENT
"In the closing moments of Lohengrin at the Royal Opera House, the heroine, Elsa (Edith Haller), engages in a frankly intimate kiss with her long-lost brother Gottfried (Ishwar Maharaj), the new ruler of Brabant who until recently was a swan. Crowds rejoice. She swoons. The curtain falls."
THE OBSERVER
"Elijah Moshinsky gives us the fetishism, taboos and conflict between old and new religions, and even possibly dwells on other prohibited behaviour, if we consider the lingering kiss between Elsa (Edith Haller) and her brother Gottfried (Ishwar Maharaj) after his reappearance at the end of the opera" SEEN & HEARD INTERNATIONAL
I Can't Think Straight
"One thing the film does do well is feature a subplot in which Tala’s sister Zina (Kimberly Jaraj) is heartbroken because she loves a Jewish guy. Zina also befriends Sami (Ishwar Maharaj), a gay relative who arrives for the wedding. Both of these developments - —a secret “forbidden” love and another gay Muslim character—positively underscore the central storyline and show that Tala’s situation is not an isolated one."
SAN FRANCISCO BAY TIMES
