Taher Lokhandwala will be playing the part of Ramanujan in Shunya’s upcoming production “Partition” by Ira Hauptman. He will also be making his Houston debut in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” which opens April 17th at the University of St. Thomas. For more details on the show, click Here!
Taher is a recent transplant to the wonderful city of Houston from Texas A&M University in College Station. In his time at TAMU, Taher has been seen in numerous productions put on by the Department of Performance Studies. Most recently he appeared as Orlando in Maria Irene Fornes’ play, The Conduct of Life. His other notable acting credits include Demetrius in A Midsummer Nights’ Dream, Matt the Mint in A Beggar’s Opera and Dr. Boyle in Prelude to a Kiss.
Once again Country Playhouse is presenting their tremendously fun MADCAP 24. Shunya has participated in the last several years, and once again two Shunya actors will be on stage: Sriram Vengalathur and Jesal Kapasi. This is always a fantastic show — one night only! — and it is amazing what the playwrights can come up with in the 10-12 hours they have. If you do make it out, drop me a line at Sanjay@ShunyaTheatre.org.
Information and tickets at http://www.countryplayhouse.org/madcap.php
Saraswati (Sara) Agnes Kumar is a member of Shunya’s Board of Directors and the former Artistic Director. She has acted, directed written and composed for several Shunya productions, and also founded Paragon Arts in Los Angeles.
role: Sara, Jennifer, Amy
How did you first get involved with Shunya?
I met Soham after watching Reincarnation, Shunya’s first production. He encouraged me to write a one-act play, which I directed that summer. I’ve been hooked ever since.
When did you develop your passion for theatre?
When I was a kid, I used to write scripts and have neighborhood children perform them for holidays and special occasions. In college, I started writing skits for talent shows. Shunya was my first opportunity to really get to do theatre in a serious way.
What is it like working with the rest of the cast?
I think this is a great cast, and I love working with them. That’s the best part really, the relationships that are built both on and off stage.
How to you go about creating your character?
I find something similar in my own personality or life experiences, and then I exaggerate it or diminish it to suit the character. That way it comes off more natural. I’m not manufacturing. I’m just simply playing with the dynamics of something already present in me. Fortunately (or unfortunately!), I’ve had some pretty intense personal experiences, which have given me quite an arsenal of emotions to experiment with.
What do you enjoy about the play?
I actually think this play is a form of social commentary. What happens when American culture enters Indian society? What is lost? What is there to gain? What happens to families? Is all this happening haphazardly? I think Anuvab Pal uses humor throughout the play, but he is posing very serious questions. If we can hit those moments in the play where you don’t know whether to laugh or to ease the sick feeling in your stomach with just the right poignancy, then those will be the most powerful parts of the play.
What do you find funniest about the play?
You know, the play is very funny. No doubt about that, and I think everyone will pee in their pants laughing. But it’s also dark and really quite serious. So I hope the audience picks up on both aspects.
What do you think the audience will enjoy about the play?
The pole dancing.
What has been the most difficult aspect of acting in this production?
For me the most difficult part is that Anuvab Pal is portraying certain trends or perceptions of both American and Indian society. And while they may be exaggerated, these perceptions are not altogether off. In fact, there’s a lot of truth being portrayed. And this is scary. Well, I think it’s scary. So on stage, we’re playing all this out and laughing out loud at these hilarious lines, but inside I want to say – Stop! Let’s re-think what’s going on here culturally and socially. This is funny, but what are we really saying about our society and how we operate? That’s what art should do. This play does not offer any solutions. That’s for us to ponder. I worry that people will walk away laughing without really thinking about the greater ramifications. And that’s….difficult.
I met Yaksha Bhatt through a filmmaker who was putting together a short film for Daya and I ended up doing a small part. After that Yaksha and I were in another short film together that showed at Voices Breaking Boundaries. Then I met several other Shunya people in a Writers Group started by Sara Kumar. I was glad and curious to be asked to audition for 1-888-Dial India and am having a great time working with Shunya Theater.
Tell me about your theatre background.
I grew up back stage at a variety of community theaters doing everything from prompting, crew, costuming, props, so by the time I was the mother of a budding actor (now a professional actor in Boston) I began directing a theater troupe and working on developing original pieces with teens for issues based theater. I am fascinated with the ability of theater to create a mirror for the human condition, a pause where we can see ourselves, laugh at ourselves, cry at our losses, find new meaning in old stories.
What is it like working with the rest of the cast?
Great. I am enjoying all my new theater friends as I forge connections to theater arts here in Houston. Shunya is a great group to work with.
How to you go about creating your character?
I research characters after reading the play through several times and studying the lines. In the case of the character, Lisa, I re-read Mother Courage by Bertolt Brecht to get a little into the character’s head. I watched segments of Mother Courage on YouTube, looked for costume ideas and thought about what make-up might get across her state of distress. I also thought about what her motivations for calling a suicide hot-line might be and if she was actually going to “do it.” So, I guess the short answer is research and really getting into the play, and into a character’s “head.”
What do you find funniest about the play?
I love the political commentary about outsourcing and suicide…both things capable of changing Indian and American society in unexpected ways. I love the “ridiculous” of the idea which is just extreme enough to be plausible. And I love the caricature of American society.
This play has some very graphic language. Do you think pushing these types of boundaries is part of the reason this play is so funny?
As I used to say to my writing students, you can use graphic language if it fits the character of the plot of your work…I am not sure the play would communicate its ideas without the crassness.
Abhiroy Cheema is acting with Shunya for the first time in the role of Arun Gupta, the lead in “1-888-DIAL-INDIA”
Tell me about your theatre background.
My interest in Theatre developed early on in my childhood. I got my formal training in Theatre from Mr. Sudam Waghmare, in Mumbai who was an alumni from National School of Drama (NSD) Delhi & voice training from Mr. Pratap Sharma in Mumbai. I have been a part of several theatrical productions including those with Ekjute, Ansh & Upstage Theatre.
Arun can be a pretty coarse character, how do you think the audience will react?
In my opinion, there is an ‘Arun’ in everyone, only with different degrees of ‘check’ or ‘control’. In other words Arun is a character who takes his liberties and pushes his limits to get what he wants. Bad language is his tool to establish his superiority – and he is super confident. I think we can expect different reactions from different groups of audiences – some may find him funny, some arrogant, some outrageous and some may want to be him.
Prateek Karkal was first seen on Houston stages in Shunya’s 2009 production “Everyone Loves a Good Tsunami.” He is back in the role of Ramesh in 1-888-DIAL-INDIA.
Tell me about your theatre background.
Shunya is my first professional long-term theatre platform, although my passion for acting began way back in school and college. I used to get prizes for Dramatics. For a very short period of time I also was involved with a theatre group (Yatri) at Prithvi Theatres, Mumbai although I never acted on stage.
What is it like working with the rest of the cast?
I learn a lot of things from the rest of the cast. Watching them act gives me a new perspective of how I can do things differently. They are all just awesomely talented and simply amazing.
How well do you relate to the character you portray?
I guess I was cast because I am Ramesh even in real life!
What do you enjoy about the play?
I don’t want to sound like a selfish jerk but I enjoy every scene I am in. I have a pole dancing scene –with my clothes on– a making-out scene abruptly cut-short, a scene where I am thrashed by my boss and a couple of scenes with my American clients where I try my best to prevent them from suiciding.
What do you think the audience will enjoy about the play?
The portrayal of outsourcing and the clash of two cultures.
Sundaram “Sundy” Srinivasan plays the role of Gautam, father to Ramesh and Anjali, in “1-888-DIAL-INDIA.” He has previously acted in Shunya’s productions of Final Solutions and Everyone Loves a Good Tsunami, as well as Stages Repertory Theatre’s production of Bapsi Sidhwa’s An American Brat.
How did you first get involved with Shunya?
Many years ago, purely by chance. While I had done a lot of acting in university days, a friend told me that there was an audition and it happened to be next door to where I live, I went and got the role of Ramnik Gandhi in [Shunya’s presentation of Mahesh Dattani’s] Final Solutions.
When did you develop your passion for theatre?
I did my first play believe it or not when I was in the 1st grade. I was a deer and had to prance on stage and will never never never ever forget the moment that my deer mask fell off on stage!
What is it like working with the rest of the cast?
Excellent…all have day jobs and from different walks of life but the commonality of a passion for theater.
What do you enjoy about the play?
The cast interaction, the ability to get in the “zone” away from real life and the putting together in practice ideas I keep working on.
What do you find funniest about the play?
Pretty much the whole laugh-at-ourselves and our idiosyncrasies as Indian Americans bit.
This play has some very graphic language. Do you think pushing these types of boundaries is part of the reason this play is so funny?
I do not like the graphic language at all, and feel strongly that the same points can be made without indulgence in shabby vocabulary….but I’m equally happy to go with the playwright and deliver, I just feel that the same punch can be easily obtained without the language.
Taher Lokhandwala will be playing the part of Ramanujan in Shunya’s upcoming production “Partition” by Ira Hauptman. He will also be making his Houston debut in Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” which opens April 17th at the University of St. Thomas. For more details on the show, click Here!
