Saikat is a writer and actor based in Bristol. He has been an actor for around 15 years, working on stage, screen and radio. Theatre work includes shows at Birmingham Rep, Bristol Old Vic, Hampstead Theatre and The Kennedy Centre whilst companies he has worked for include Tara Arts, Tamasha, Travelling Light and Man-Mela. His work on TV and film includes the regular part of Vince Arya in Monday Monday (ITV) and smash British comedies East is East (CH4 / Assassin Films) and Trollied (Sky TV). In 2006 Saikat also received the Norman Beaton Fellowship from BBC Radio Drama and has worked regularly for them ever since. His first radio play, Telling Tales, was commissioned and aired on the BBC Asian Network in 2011.

As a writer, Saikat has completed a number of plays. His first solo show, The Tiger and The Moustache toured nationally in 2014 to both critical acclaim and audience appreciation.

“This story burns brightly. An intricate and heady script of authentic voices past and present is delivered beautifully by Saikat Ahamed” Wildfire, Ignite Festival Following on from the success of The Tiger and the Moustache, Saikat received a commission for a new show (aimed initially predominantly at a teenage audience) about the trials and tribulations of growing up as a second generation immigrant in the UK. The show became Strictly Balti produced by the award winning Travelling Light Theatre Company. Strictly enjoyed a pilot tour around the southwest in 2014. The show will be playing the Edinburgh Festival (The Gilded Balloon) this year after which it will be touring nationally.

Whilst Saikat’s work as a solo performer thus far has had a particularly Asian aesthetic, his wider work as a performer has been hugely varied. A far as he knows, he is the only actor to have played both the parts of Ben Gunn in Treasure Island and also Tinkerbell in Peter Pan.

For the last 10 years, Saikat has also worked as a professional storyteller, weaving his traditional tales across the UK.