Sophiyaa Nayar / Director
Sophiyaa Nayar is from New Delhi, India. She creates interdisciplinary and genre-bending work that places (im)migrants and BIPOC at the center of the narrative. She is a member of the Women’s Project Lab 2020-22, an ensemble member with Definition Theatre, member of Director's Lab Chicago 2017, and was a resident in Milwaukee Rep’s 2017/18 season. She is part of the SDC Foundation’s Observership Class, through which she worked on Soft Power by Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang at The Public. Recent work includes: Good Years by Ada Alozie (Director, Definition Theatre), Being Julia Roberts by Omer Abbas Salem (Director, Jackalope Theatre), MLK Project by Yolanda Androzzo (Director, Writers Theatre), EthiopianAmerica By Sam Kabede (Director, Definition Theatre) which won BTA Awards for Best Play, Featured Actor and Actress and a Jeff award for Fight Choreography. Big Little Eyes with Stir Friday Night (Director, Steppenwolf LookOut Series), Nollywood Dreams by Jocelyn Bioh (Assistant Director, MCC theatre) and A Doll's House, Part 2 (Assistant Director, Steppenwolf). Other companies she's worked with include: The New Colony, Steep, The Story Theatre and American Players Theatre. Currently, she is workshopping a screenplay with Sundance Collab under Jessica Sharzer. Learn more about her on sophiyaanayar.net