Evil Eye

by Madhuri Shekar
directed by Katherine Chou
November 17, 2024, at 4 pm

Evil Eye is a can’t-miss tale about cultural miscommunications, family secrets, and the lingering echoes of trauma. Told through a series of phone calls and voicemails, this Audible Original penned by award-winning playwright Madhuri Shekar transitions seamlessly from a light-hearted family dramedy to an unexpectedly supernatural thriller.

Usha has tried everything to matchmake for her daughter, Pallavi: horoscopes, fortune-tellers, arranged dates…everything. But there’s only so much she can do in Delhi, halfway across the world from Pallavi. Usha fears that her daughter might die alone…until Pallavi falls head-over-heels for the smart and charming Sandeep. He is everything Usha could want in a son-in-law…but she can’t shake the feeling that something isn’t quite right. In fact, she’s convinced something terrible is afoot, something otherworldly—and it’s coming for her daughter.

AAP Salon Reading at the Los Angeles Theatre Center
Tickets are Pay What You Want ($20-50)

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This fundraiser will support Artists at Play’s 2025 Season.

Cast

Parvesh Cheena (Krishnan, Guruji) is an Indian American actor and writer from Chicagoland now based in Los Angeles. He is happy to return to Artists at Play after performing in their 2018 world premiere production of Two Mile Hollow. While studying at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, Parvesh made his film debut as Samir in Barbershop and since has had roles as Gupta in the NBC TV series Outsourced, Sunil on the CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and as the voice of Blades in Transformers: Rescue-Bots. Recent work includes Frasier, The Conners, and The Mandalorian. He has served in union leadership for both SAG-AFTRA and the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance – APALA.

Rachna Khatau (Usha) is an actress, writer, and producer. TV acting credits include Baby Daddy (Freeform), The Big Bang Theory (CBS), Bizaardvark (Disney), Downward Dog (ABC), Raven’s Home (Disney), comedy pilots for ABC, CBS and more. Regional theatre includes Ashland New Plays Festival, PlayFest Indy, Circle X, TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, East West Players, AMMO, Moving Arts, Playwrights Union, Playwrights’ Arena, Artists at Play, Adventure Theatre, South Coast Repertory, Open Fist, and Victory Gardens. Rachna has an MA from USC, is a graduate of the Conservatory at The Second City, and serves as a Board Member for the Humanity Play Project.

Aly Mawji (Sandeep) is best known for playing Hooli brogrammer Naveen on HBO’s Silicon Valley. He had a supporting role in the film adaptation of the book All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews, starred in the 2020 pandemic psychological thriller Six Feet, and recurs on the animated Netflix series Sharkdog. Some other favorite credits include This Is Us, Will & Grace, Grey’s Anatomy, and 9-1-1. On stage, Aly performed in The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Dallas Theatre Center), Animals Out of Paper (SF Playhouse), Back of the Throat (Pasadena Playhouse) and Naked Before God (Circle X Theatre).

Sonal Shah (Pallavi) is an award-winning actor from Chicago, NBC Diversity alum, Disney+ dev deal recipient, and one of the first South Asians on a network comedy (Scrubs). Film/TV: Four Samosas (Hulu), Definition Please (Netflix), Superstore, New Girl, Young Sheldon, Powerpuff Girls, and Mira, Royal Detective. Theatre: Untitled Baby Play (IAMA, Performance of The Year), A Christmas Carol (Goodman), Celestial Events (IAMA, Outstanding Ensemble in Comedy), Unopened (YPF), The Last Bohemian (IAMA). Training: Loyola (BA Theatre), Second City, Moscow Art Theatre School at Harvard. Sonal directs and is on faculty at Stella Adler AOA Conservatory and John Rosenfeld Studios. She thanks her parents!

Creative Team

Madhuri Shekar (Playwright) is an award-winning playwright based in New Jersey. Her plays include House of Joy, Queen, A Nice Indian Boy and In Love and Warcraft. Her audio drama, Evil Eye, won a 2020 Audie Award for best original work, and she wrote the film adaptation starring Sarita Chaudhury. A Nice Indian Boy has also been turned into a movie, starring Jonathan Groff and Karan Soni. She has an MFA in dramatic writing from USC and is an alumnus of the Juilliard Playwriting Program.

Katherine Chou (Director) is a writer, filmmaker, and theatre artist. Her work in theatre encompasses directing, producing, and dramaturgy with Artists at Play, IAMA Theatre Company, Boston Court Pasadena, A Noise Within, Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA, Occidental College, and the Denver Center for Performing Arts. As a filmmaker, her work has screened internationally and been recognized by the Armed With a Camera Fellowship, Starz, Women in Film, and The Wrap. Additional film credits include Dunkirk and The Hate U Give. A graduate of L’Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris, she has called many places home, including France, Montreal, and Taipei.

Arnab Banerji (Dramaturg) is a Tovaangar (occupied Southern California) based theatre educator, translator, dramaturg, and cultural consultant. Arnab teaches theatre history at Loyola Marymount University. His recent dramaturgical credits include Fuenteoverjuna (LMU), Guarded (CSUN), Pyar aur Coffee (LB Shakespeare), Spring Awakening (East West Players), ABCD (Greenway Court Theatre), The Lock of the Five Keys (Boston Court Pasadena), Jeanette (LMU), Guards at the Taj (Chester Theatre), Red Oleanders (UC Riverside) and Kim’s Convenience (Laguna Playhouse). Arnab’s translations of South Asian and South Asian American plays have been seen on stage at UC Riverside and Barnard College.

Stephen Alvarez (Sound Designer) is a sound designer, audio engineer, and musician from Los Angeles. He has worked with theaters including the Latino Theater Company, Artists at Play, and The Groundlings. A graduate of Cal State LA, he is staffed as dialogue editor at Allied Post Audio. He elevates the fast-paced improvisational and sketch comedy of the historic Groundlings comedy theater as a sound designer and audio engineer, most currently working on It’s Coming From Inside the Groundlings. His background in music and audio engineering has informed his work as a sound designer for theatre, video games, and film.

Brandon Hong Cheng (Stage Manager) is excited to help present Evil Eye with Artists at Play. He’s a San Francisco native and a graduate of CSULB, with a B.A. in Technical Theatre. Credits include: God Will Do The Rest, The Chinese Lady, Two Mile Hollow, 99 Histories (Artists at Play); Unbroken Blossoms, Kairos, Spring Awakening, The Brothers Paranormal, Interstate, Assassins, Mamma Mia!, Man of God (East West Players); Fetch Clay, Make Man (Center Theatre Group); Sanctuary City (Pasadena Playhouse); The Great Leap (Pasadena Playhouse and East West Players; and Allegiance (Japanese American Cultural & Community Center and East West Players. Thanks to his family and friends for all their love and support! Enjoy the show!

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