At 23, the young actor played Brutus in Julius Caesar to full houses, and offers are now
coming in from across the United States.
In the small mountain town of Westcliffe, Colorado, audiences packed the prestigious
Westcliffe Center for the Performing Arts for Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. At the centre of
the tragedy was a 23-year-old from Jaipur. Vidur Katyal played Brutus, the honourable man
who helps kill his friend, and the production sold out its houses.
Brutus is one of the most demanding roles in Shakespeare. He carries the play’s moral
weight and its most famous speeches, and the part usually goes to seasoned performers.
For Vidur, it was a turning point.
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“Brutus is a man who talks himself into everything,” he says. “You have to believe every
word he says, even when he’s wrong. Every night, I could feel the audience going on that
journey with him.”
From Jaipur to the American stage
Vidur left Rajasthan to study in the United States. At Mississippi State University he
double-majored in communication and computer science, played Captain von Trapp in The
Sound of Music, and was named assistant producer of the university’s North Drama Fest.
The stage won. At Vermont State University Castleton, his performance as Prince Dauntless
in Once Upon a Mattress earned him a nomination for the Kennedy Center’s Irene Ryan
Acting Scholarship. He competed as a finalist in the 2025 Region 1 competition and
graduated that May with a B.A. in Theatre and Music.
Offers from across the country
Since Julius Caesar, the offers have followed. Vidur has been engaged to play the male lead
in Olden Days, a touring Hindi musical produced by 19th Cloud Productions with the
Middlebury Players. He has also lined up work as lead male vocalist in Holiday Memories
with Above the Curve Theater and an engagement with the Woodstock Playhouse. The
Westcliffe Center has asked him back for its Summer Shakespeare Repertory.
“It’s surreal,” he says. “A few years ago I was a student from Jaipur hoping to get on stage.
Now theatres across the country are asking me to come and work with them. Olden Days is
special because I get to bring Hindi music and Indian stories to American audiences.”
His screen work is growing too. He plays Garrett for Dhar Mann Studios, whose scripted
videos reach millions of viewers worldwide. He appeared in BuzzFeed Cocoa Butter’s Indian
vs African: We Try Each Other’s Curry, which has passed half a million views. He was also
part of Jubilee Media’s debate episode 1 Vegan vs 20 Meat Eaters, watched by millions.
He also makes his own work. He wrote, produced and starred in The One Percent, a
romantic comedy short selected for The Great Film Fest and Lift-Off International LA. He
co-wrote and starred as the lead in the action-comedy Normalish with Kyron Cantelo.
“Theatre taught me discipline, and the camera taught me honesty,” Vidur says. “Coming from India, I bring a perspective American audiences haven’t always seen. I want to keep telling those stories, on stage and on screen.”
From a sold-out Shakespeare in the Colorado mountains to offers from coast to coast, the
boy from Jaipur is only getting started.