नेहा & NEEL — Digital Program

Ankita Raturi (Playwright) is a currently Queens-based writer and teaching artist who grew up in capital cities, pediatric gastroenterology offices, and the bisexual closet. New play development: Roundabout, Ma-Yi Theater Company, South Coast Repertory, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Berkshire Theatre Group, Cygnet Theatre, Artists at Play, The COOP, Atlantic Pacific Theatre, Theater Masters, Hypokrit Theatre Company, New York Shakespeare Exchange, Pete’s Candy Store, Natyabharati, Wesleyan University. BFA in Drama: NYU/Tisch. MFA in Playwriting: UC San Diego. First-year Kathak student.

J. Mehr Kaur (Director) tells stories that mythicize the lives of ordinary people. Recently, she directed Pigeonhole by Jasmine Sharma (CTG reading), MĀYĀ by Cheeyang Ng & Eric Sorrels (MTW reading), and ABCD by Lily Abha Cratsley (KriyaShakti/Greenway Court). Her internationally touring physical theatre piece Kultar’s Mime addresses the power of art in the wake of injustice. Her upcoming short film I’m Dead Right? stars Sakina Jaffrey and is EP’d by D’Lo. Past Colt Coeur Resident Artist, WTF Directing Corp, MTC Directing Fellow, and a recipient of a Fulbright-Nehru Directing Grant. MFA: Peter Stark Producing Program, USC; BA: Smith College.

Nandini Minocha (Neha) has been an actor “within” all her life but was able to overcome her deep cultural, familial conditioning only in her 40s. She made her way to SF in 2009 to pursue her one true love, Theatre. Since then she moved to LA and has played significant guest stars/lead in TV shows like MacGyver, Night Court, Ms. Marvel, Chicago Med, and Quantum Leap. Nandini believes she is only just getting started and is here for the journey of a lifetime, she hopes you’re down to join her on a little fun ride this afternoon.

Seth Gunawardena (Neel) is a promising actor with over 8 years of experience. Most recently, he could be seen playing Neel in नेहा & Neel in the Wagner New Play Festival. He recently completed his BA in Theatre at UC San Diego. He stepped into the professional world when he was cast as Suresh in Animals Out of Paper at the Chautauqua Institution directed by Lamar Perry in 2022. This experience cemented the foundation of techniques he learned at UCSD, and has inspired him to learn as much as he can from the artists around him.

Sashank Kanchustambam (Arnav & Avatars) is a recent UC San Diego graduate with a theatre major and econ minor from Hyderabad and Chandigarh, India. Regional: Come Fall In Love (Script Assistant). San Diego: Dancing at the End of the World (Blindspots Collective), SAA (Not That One) (Trinity Theatre). UCSD theatre: Man in Love (ensemble), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Flute/Thisbe), Backwaters (Mukul), Twelfth Night (Asst Director), 50 Boxes of Earth (Script PA), Machinal (Lawyer for prosecution and Married Man), Bunny Bunny (PA). UCSD labs: AHC (Lab project choreographer), I – You (Customer/Little Boy), नेहा & Neel (Arnav and Avatars). Playwriting credits: That One Girl at the Airport (Trinity Theatre), Only I Can Say That and Dancing at the End of the World (Blindspot Collective), We Were Kids (Sparks Theatre Company), 45 Minutes of Chaos (UCSD lab). Short films: Nadartine (Actor, Director, Writer), Choice Creates (Actor, Director, Writer), Re-Exam (Actor), 98 Days at a Time (Actor, Writer), Wait (Writer).

Sharayu Mahale (Stage Directions) is a bicoastal actor who found her way into the world of acting through dance (Bharatanatyam). She studied acting at Yale School of Drama’s summer acting conservatory in 2019 and has continued to train in improv comedy, scene study, and technique classes across Los Angeles. Some recent projects include acting in Mira Nair’s musical Monsoon Wedding, Netflix’s Cobra Kai, and her debut as a lead in feature film Footnotes available on streaming platforms June 7.