Besides being involved in environmental theatre, Ashish has directed plays for several theatre troupes including his own group -- Space and Acting Research Centre. Moreover, he has written some original plays and translated some well-known ones. So far he has written 14 environmental and 18 traditional theatre plays. His plays including Ekti Shironamheen Natok, Mohammad Amin, Raja Protap Aditya, Bouder Pathshala (translation), The Freedom of the City (translation) and Mirershorer Pala have received plaudits.

Reminiscing his start, Ashish says that he began theatre activities in the late 1970s. Initially he was a member of Dhaka Padatik and had acted in popular plays like Comrade, Ingit and Goni Mia Ekdin. In the late '80s he went to National School of Drama (NSD) in Delhi, India to study theatre. At NSD, he got acquainted with different forms of world theatre. After returning to Bangladesh in 1991, he wanted to do something innovative.

Ashish says, "At NSD, I was highly influenced by American artistic designer and theatre scholar, Professor Richard Schechner's concept of 'Environmental theatre' (Schechner calls it 'new theatre'). There are ritual elements that comprise Schechner's works in between 'theatre' and 'anthropology'. Environmental theatre fosters new involvements and ideas -- variations on space, time, and focus. The form tries to reach beyond the boundaries of space. The intention is to explore the architecture, textural qualities, acoustics, and so on. At times these elements in performing space are more important than the performers. The play takes shape through synchronisation of images concerning the environment. I found the experimental theatre form interesting and had the urge to practice it in Dhaka."

Ashish has dealt with national issues in his environmental theatre. The reason behind dealing with national issues, according to Ashish is, "In traditional theatre the audience just watches, but in the 'new theatre' form the audience gets to participate.

Which is why I've chosen the issues of national interest as themes for my experimental plays."

The first environmental theatre production written and directed by Ashish Khondokar was Protno, staged in 1991. About the production Ashish informs that using elements that relate to the Rayer Bazar site where renowned Bengali intellectuals were slain in 1971, images of genocide were created in the 40-minute play. After the production Ashish became more interested in environmental theatre. To initiate more experiments he formed his own theatre troupe named Space and Acting Research Centre. The troupe is a member of Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation.

Ashish's second project was a Bardhaman House (now known as Bangla Academy) based production titled Chandrabindu. Ashish selected the venue for the production with the theme of "Language Movement", as many historic events during the movement (between 1952-54) took place at or around the site.

On the production of Mohammad Amin, Ashish says, "It was a huge production centring the pond at Institute of Fine Arts. The play is on artists and different schools of thought in fine arts of Bangladesh. We staged seven shows of the play in a row.

It became so popular that the institute invited me to stage Mohammad Amin at its golden jubilee celebration in 1991."

The practice of environmental theatre has made an unmistakable impact on his writing skills. On his writing process, Ashish says, "I take my time when I'm working on a play. I do it through dialectical methodology, a process of thesis and synthesis. I brief the actors on a certain theme and they develop their own dialogues. Once the process starts rolling, I start my research based on the dialogues and subsequently write the play."

Ashish runs a school for the children called Friday Theatre School. He says, "In our materialistic society, children have very little source of entertainment. The current production of the school is Aladdin."