Badal Sircar is the famous Bengali dramatist who is known as the innovator of contemporary Indian theatre. Born on July 15, 1925, he was a trained civil engineer and town planner. From his childhood, he took a keen interest in theatre but did not give up his employment with various engineering and town planning organizations in India and abroad until 1975. Dismayed by the paucity of good Bengali drama, he began writing plays in the 1950s.

Badal Sircar had is own theater group - Satabdi. He conceptualized what he called anganmancha or Third Theatre. He brought new techniques and changes in style. He produced Spartacus in 1972 and was staged where spectators were sitting in a room all around. Many of his productions were open-air shows in city parks and villages. He broke the barriers between performers and spectators. According to him theatre must be a collective exercise to awaken and enhance the social consciousness of participants, including the viewers. His plays have been translated in many languages and staged across the world.

He has been awarded the Padma Shri in 1972, Sangeet Natak Akademi Award in 1968 and the Sangeet Natak Akademi Fellowship- Ratna Sadsya, the highest honour in the performing arts by Govt. of India, in 1997.