Shakuntala

STARTS 6/26/2021 Live Virtual Reading
7pm CDT FREE, Reservations Required

Shakuntala

By Lavina Jadhwani, Directed by Sophiyaa Nayar

Shakuntala is celebrating her new marriage to the king when a sage places a spell on her beloved so that he forgets his wife’s face. Inspired by Kalidasa’s 4th-century drama, Lavina Jadhwani’s Bollywood-infused Shakuntala is a playful, irreverent, totally contemporary take on losing and finding love and where we come from.

This production is no longer available.

Read Content Advisory Info
  • Shakuntala contains adult language and is intended for mature audiences.
  • Lavina Jadhwani / Playwright

    Lavina Jadhwani is a theatre director, adaptor, and activist. Recent directing credits include As You Like It at the Guthrie Theatre, Peter and the Starcatcher at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Roe and The Cake at Asolo Repertory Theatre. Adaptations include Shakuntala, A Christmas Carol (upcoming production — Guthrie Theater), The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters, Uncle Vanya, and The Sitayana (currently in rehearsal at East West Players). Lavina lives in Chicago, where she was recently named "One of the Top Fifty People Who Really Perform for Chicago" by New City. BFA/MA, Carnegie Mellon University; MFA, The Theatre School at DePaul University. lavinajadhwani.com

    Lavina Jadwani
  • 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

    Sophiyaa Nayar
 

CAST

JESSE BHAMRAH — King
ANAND BHATT — Pandu/Durvasas
VIKRAM KONKIMALLA — Boy
SHISHIR KURUP — Kanva
MIRIAM A. LAUBE — Queen Mother/Guatami
TINA MUÑOZ PANDYA — Priya
AILA PECK — Shakuntala
JASMINE SHARMA — Anushka
LEVIN VALAYIL — Madhavya

NINA JAYASHANKAR — Stage Directions Reader

 

SPONSORS

Future Labs Sponsors

About Future Labs

Future Labs—Goodman Theatre’s newest artistic program to develop works authored and directed by Black, Indigenous, Latinx, AAPI and other artists of color. Designed primarily for Chicago-based writers who have not had a play produced at the Goodman, Future Labs will feature up to nine workshops and presentations, slated to begin early 2021.

Support Future Labs

Future Labs is just one of Goodman Theatre's many new work development programs, which amplify bold new artistic voices. We gratefully ask for your support in these efforts through a contribution. YOU can help us to shape the future of American theater!

 
 

Follow Us