SONATA
Written by Mahesh Elkunchwar
Directed by Basab Pradhan
Lohman Theater, Aug 17-25, 2018
In a world dominated by stories of bromances, male bonding over cigars and scotch at gentleman's clubs, and headline news about "locker room talk", Sonata is that rare story about ... just women. Three non-conformist, independent, career women living life on their own terms in a metropolis.
The play explores modern notions of friendship, betrayal, loneliness and forgiveness. Penned with nuance and humor by master playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar, of Pratibimb and Party fame, Sonata was adapted to film in 2017. It was directed by Aparna Sen, featuring Shabana Azmi, Lillete Dubey and Sen herself in the leading roles.
Our production of Sonata has been double cast. Scroll down this page for more details about the cast.
English | 70 minutes | Ages 13+
*The performances on August 24th and 25th will be followed by a Talkback with the playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar. More information here.
Photos
The two casts are:
– Sindu Singh (ARUNA), Anju Prakash (DOLON) & Sejal Desai (SUBHADRA)
– Anindita Mukherjee (ARUNA), Rita Bhatia (DOLON) & Sindu Singh (SUBHADRA)
Sindu Singh
as Aruna & Subhadra
Sindu recently directed Vijay Tendulkar's Kanyadaan, Rahul Varma's Counter Offence, Girish Karnad's Wedding Album and Mahesh Dattani's Dance Like a Man. She has essayed multiple roles with various Bay Area theatre companies. Favorites include Malini in Anupama Chandrasekhar’s Free Outgoing, Naina in Basab Pradhan's adaptation of Ibsen's A Doll's House, Damyanti in Mahesh Elkunchwar's Party, Bagheera in Harish Agastya's Mowgli and I, Sarita in Vijay Tendulkar's Kamla, and Hamida Begum in Asghar Wajahat's Jis Lahore Nahin Vekhya O Jammyai Nahin. She founded 'Rangmanch', a South Asian theater group for the Stanford University community, and for its maiden outing, directed Yoni ki Baat, the South Asian version of Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues.
Sindu is Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Bay Area Drama Company.
PC: Ashima Yadava
Anindita Mukherjee
as Aruna
Anindita is a stage actress and singer. Theater has been her lifelong passion and she has been fortunate to find many avenues to pursue it. She has essayed lead roles in several plays and musicals in Hyderabad (India), Houston and in the Bay Area. Anindita’s most recent performances include Circle Mirror Transformation, Muavze (Compensation), Toba Tek Singh (Vocals), Loke ki Bolbe (What will People Say) and Amartya (The Immortal).
Rita Bhatia
as Dolon
Rita has been an avid theater enthusiast and made her debut as a theater actor last December with Bay Area Drama Company in Not Equal To. She has also been a part of the production crew in Free Outgoing and Kanyadaan and has studied TV and Film acting at First Take Acting School. Besides theater, Rita is passionate about Hindustani classical music and Bridge.
Sejal Desai
as Subhadra
A Physical Therapist by profession, Sejal first joined BAD Company as part of the Stage Crew and as Props Designer for Not Equal To. Most recently, she was Production Manager as well as the understudy for the character of Seva in Kanyadaan. Sejal relishes all aspects of theater, from conception to character refinement to presentation and the myriad threads that need to be sewn together to stage a high quality, elegant production. She is thrilled to make her acting debut in the role of Subhadra.
Anju Prakash
as Dolon
Anju is a Technical Writer by profession.
She was actively involved with theater in Hindi and English throughout her high school and college years. Watching BAD Company’s Wedding Album inspired her to rekindle her passion for theater.
Anju is excited to make her Bay Area acting debut in the cast of Sonata.
Director
Basab Pradhan
Basab Pradhan is an actor, director and playwright. He is Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Bay Area Drama Company.
His most recent acting work includes the role of Nath in Vijay Tendulkar's Kanyadaan, Chairman Rao in Not Equal To, Moolchand in Rahul Varma's Counter Offence, Salman in Wajahat Ali's The Domestic Crusaders and Jairaj in Mahesh Dattani's Dance Like a Man. Basab wrote and directed A Doll's House, a South Asian adaptation of Ibsen's classic and Not Equal To, a corporate thriller set in the Indian IT industry. He is currently writing Greater Than, a play about sexual harassment in the Silicon Valley which will go on stage in December 2018.
CREW
| Production Design | Sindu Singh |
|---|---|
| Set Design | Seema Mittal |
| Set Construction | Chris Williamson - Master Carpenter Matthew Williamson |
| Sets Team | Sathish Shenoy, Kartic Bhargav, Abhinay Rao, Michelle Marko, Shivanand Kini, Havish Ravipati, Bharath Sripad, Dilip Ratnam, Parag Kilche, Varghese Muthalaly, Manoj Murli |
| Sound Design | Kush Patel |
| Lighting Design | Carson Duper |
| Original Art | Nirmala Maheshwari, Richard Bowman |
| Graphics | Arjun Singh |
| Poster Art | Pragya Tiwari |
| Backstage Crew | Arati Nagaraj, Namita Sathyan |
| Ticketing | Sathish Shenoy, Nayana Shenoy, Shivanand Kini |
| Photography | Ashima Yadava, Adam Pardee |
| Videography | Jim Manalisay |
| Food for the Cast | Sangeeta Doraiswamy |
| Ushers | Ashima Shankar, Ashritha Thirumalai |