Eight One Eight Two by Rishi Chowdhary
RISHI CHOWDHARY (Playwright) was born in Mombasa, Kenya to Indian parents and moved to Miami, Florida at a young age. After writing cultural sketches and articles for the campus newspaper at Florida International University, Rishi moved to Poughkeepsie, New York for a job with IBM and spent many weekends in the city where he was able to soak in the theatre and arts scenes. It was there he wrote his first short play, Color Me Desi, which ran in Desipina & Co’s Seven.11 2005 production. Rishi is excited be included in this year’s Samuel French OOB Short Play Festival and thanks his talented friends at Fresh Lime Soda Productions for performing his play, Eight One Eight Two, based on his family’s true story. Rishi currently lives in North Carolina and thanks his wife, Kavita, and his entire family for their support and listening to his wild play ideas.
KANIKA ASAVARI VAISH (Director) is an NYC-based director, writer, MFA graduate of Columbia School of the Arts, and co-founder of South Asian theatre ensemble Fresh Lime Soda Productions.
WASIM AZEEZ (Santosh) is a New York-based actor and producer. Upcoming: Alone Alone on the wide wide sea, premiering at the upcoming Tasveer South Asian Film Festival.
SIRAJ HUDA (Papaji) is a New York-based actor, writer and producer. He is originally from Orissa, India, and also lived in Nepal and Dubai.
SABINA SETHI UNNI (Kajal) is a political theatre director, performer, writer, organizer and co-founder of South Asian theatre ensemble Fresh Lime Soda Productions. Upcoming: rainydayplay.org.
Landis and the Bear by Cate Berg
CATE BERG (Playwright). Cate’s short plays have been produced by the Omaha Magic Theatre, Wisconsin Public Radio and Seattle’s Stone Soup Theatre. Her first full-length play, What Is Good, was recently given a public reading by The Playwrights Group. Currently, she’s revising her second full-length play, River of Possession/s. She’s the recipient of an Individual Artist Fellowship for Literature from the Nebraska State Arts Council and holds an MFA in Fiction Writing from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She lives with her partner and their pets in Kingston, NY.
SARAH CONNOLLY (Director) is a NYC-based theatre director. Recent credits include Mouse Trap (New York Theater Festival), Don’t Do This To Us (The Tank) and Downstairs (ARC Stages).
PENNY ARCADE (Gramma). Poet, writer, singer, author of 16 plays. An international icon of artistic resistance focusing on community building and performance as a transformative act.
LOGAN SPALETA (Landis) is an actor, singer, published songwriter and performer. Past credits include Mark Cohen (RENT) and J. Pierrepont Finch (How To Succeed…). loganspaleta.com
VICTORIA LEACOCK HOFFMAN (Producer). Produced Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…BOOM! off-Broadway, directed Kiki & Herb’s music video Total Eclipse of the Heart, is an ambassador for the musical RENT.
Mood Board by Nia Akilah Robinson
NIA AKILAH ROBINSON (She. Her.) (Playwright) is a second-year playwright at The Juilliard School. Some listed credits are… 2023 NYSAF Artist-In-Residence, 2023 National Black Theater Soul Series and 2023 Residency at The Pocantico Center through YoungArts. niaakilahrobinson.com
HEATHER LANZA (Director). NYC-based director, producer and arts educator focusing on new play development and the devising of original new works. BA in Directing, Fordham University/MA in Applied Theater from CUNY. heatherlanza.com
ANDRÉS (Danny) is a first generation Venezuelan-American Jew hailing from the Bay Area. BFA Tisch: Spring Awakening (Hanschen), Everyman (Death). MFA Juilliard: Pocatello (Eddie), Pericles (Antiochus).
LEELA BASSUK (Nadia). Listed credits are American Theatre Group: Right To Be Forgotten (Sarita); Juilliard: Three Sisters (Natasha), The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window (Iris), Moment (Ruth). Juilliard (MFA, Group 54).
LORETO DELGADO (Stage Directions) is a Filipino-American actor from Chicago. He was recently seen at the Tribeca Film Festival starring in the VR animated film Mahal.
LUK ROSARIO (AJ/Nephew) is a queer Latinx actor from Long Island currently receiving his BFA in Acting at The Juilliard School.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_separator type=”normal”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
2023 OOB Festival Credits
Festival Sponsor
Concord Theatricals
2023 Festival Judges
Jason Aguirre
Christina Anderson
Hilary Bettis
Eleanor Burgess
Steph Del Rosso
Jason Eagan
Skylar Fox
Gracie Gardner
Margaret Ledford
Jill Rafson
Jonathan Silverstein
Emmanuel Wilson
Honorary Playwright
James Ijames
Festival Artistic Director
Casey McLain
Literary Director/Opening Night Party Moderator
Garrett Anderson
Festival Host/Client Manager
Abbie Van Nostrand
House Manager
Tyler Mullen
Box Office Manager
Rosemary Bucher
Marketing Team
Meredith Foster
Jeremiah Hernandez
Courtney Kochuba
Imogen Lloyd Webber
Festival Production Coordinators
Cambria Martin
Clare Rankine
Alexandra Varitek
Festival Support Staff
Ella Andrew, Victoria Bond, Meredith Foster, Shaina Gilks, Jeremiah Hernandez, Ben Keiper, Rachel Levens, David McMaines, Gabriela Morales, Nate Netzley, Kristen Rea, Rachel Smith, Faith Williams
2023 Submissions Readers
Ella Andrew, Caroline Barnard, Caroline Bohnenberger, Jim Colleran, Charlie Coulthard, Sequoyah Douglas, Meredith Foster, Marquis Hardin, Rachel Levens, Amy Rose Marsh, Debbie McLean, David McMaines, Elizabeth Minski, Gabriela Morales, Tyler Mullen, Alexander Perez, Kristen Rea, Rachel Smith, Abbie Van Nostrand, Sarah Weber, Faith Williams
Special Thanks
Sean Flahaven, Bill Gaden, Concord, City Theatre Miami
About Concord Theatricals
Concord Theatricals is the world’s most significant theatrical company, comprising the catalogs of R&H Theatricals, Samuel French, Tams-Witmark and The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, plus dozens of new signings each year. Our unparalleled roster includes the work of Irving Berlin, Agatha Christie, George & Ira Gershwin, Marvin Hamlisch, Lorraine Hansberry, Jeremy O. Harris, Kander & Ebb, Tom Kitt, Ken Ludwig, Marlow & Moss, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anaïs Mitchell, Dominique Morisseau, Cole Porter, Theresa Rebeck, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Thornton Wilder and August Wilson. We are the only firm providing truly comprehensive services to the creators and producers of plays and musicals, including theatrical licensing, music publishing, script publishing, cast recording and first-class production.