THE SQUARE ROOT OF A SONNET
Written by Nilanjan P. Choudhury
Directed by Ranjita Chakravarty
Aug 21 to 28, 2021
Sunnyvale Theater
550 E Remington Dr, Sunnyvale
The Square Root of a Sonnet was also performed at City Lights Theater, San Jose from Apr 29 to May 1, 2022 with a different cast. Learn more about that production here.
In the summer of 1930, a nineteen year old Indian boy boarded the steamship SS Pilsna to sail from Bombay to Cambridge. During the sea voyage, he formulated the fundamental equations that govern the death of stars.
The boy's name was Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, the brilliant Indian-American astrophysicist who won the Nobel Prize in 1983. Chandra's discovery opened the gateway to the new science of black holes which flourished in the 1960's and 70's under the likes of Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose.
But Chandra himself had to wait for over forty years for his work to get the recognition that it deserved. His extraordinary discovery at the age of nineteen, was almost immediately suppressed. And the person responsible for it was Chandra's own guru and mentor - Sir Arthur Eddington, the foremost astrophysicist of the time.
Why did Eddington try to destroy Chandra? Eddington's actions have been a long-standing mystery in the annals of modern science. Was it because of professional rivalry, his religious beliefs or perhaps racial prejudice? Or was it something else?
The Square Root of a Sonnet is an attempt to answer these questions by exploring the complex relationship between two giants of modern astrophysics - Chandra and Eddington. It is a story of ambition, friendship and betrayal set against the back drop of the epoch-making events of the twentieth century - two world wars, the Indian freedom movement and above all, the birth of the new sciences of relativity and quantum mechanics.
Ages 12+ | 100 min
Before the performance, there will be a 5 min introduction to the history of the science of black holes by Raja GuhaThakurta, Professor & Department Chair, Astronomy & Astrophysics, UC Santa Cruz.
After the performance there will be a TalkBack with the director of the play, Ranjita Chakravarty, Raja GuhaThakurta and Artistic Director, Basab Pradhan.
The background of our poster is a computer-simulated image that shows a super massive black hole 2.7B light years from Earth, shredding a star that wandered too close. The data for the image was collected using NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory.
CAST
Basab Pradhan (Chandra)
Basab is a stage actor, director and playwright. His notable work as an actor includes Imam Saleem in The Invisible Hand, Nath in Kanyadaan, Chairman Rao in Not Equal To, Moolchand in Counter Offence, Salman in The Domestic Crusaders and Jairaj in Dance Like a Man. He has three full-length plays to his credit – Not Equal To, Greater Than and Divided By – and an Indian-American adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House.
Basab is the Artistic Director of Bay Area Drama Company.
Stefan Fisher (Eddington)
Stefan Fisher has been involved in the performing arts since the age of six when his father gave him an old box of magic tricks. For twenty-one years Stefan was an actor, director, playwright, and instructor with California Theatre Center, where he appeared in over a hundred productions and directed student actors in numerous Conservatory productions, many of which he wrote. He has acted with Epic Immersive and recently with EnActe in their productions of The Parting in which he played Cyril Radcliffe and The Kingdom of Cards as the King of Cards. Stefan has also taught for Peninsula Youth Theatre and Portola Valley Theatre Conservatory. In his younger days, he traveled and performed with several circuses as a juggler, tight-wire walker, unicyclist, and master of ceremonies. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Dramatic Art from University of California, Davis and a Teaching Credential from Sacramento State University.
Vibeka Sen Sisodiya (Lalitha)
Vibeka is a communications professional, and in her spare time, a writer, singer, and aspiring actor. Theater has always been at the top of her bucket list, and sheltering in place provided the perfect backdrop to dip her toe in Zoom drama. After Enacte's production of Swapna in Fall 2020 and Bay Area Drama Company's Forever in Spring 2021, she was bitten. The Square Root of a Sonnet is her first staged production. She is thrilled to play the strong, brilliant and fiercely advocating character of Lalitha Chandrasekhar.
Sarah Thermond (Winnie)
Sarah is thrilled to be back onstage and working with this wonderful team! Virtual theatre credits include Charlotte Corday in The Revolutionists (SBMT eStudio) and Charlotte Lucas in Pride & Prejudice (SBMT & SVS eStudio). Past stage roles include Rosalind in As You Like It, Witch/Doctor in Macbeth, the Prioress in The Hood of Sherwood, Horatio in Hamlet, Queen Anne in The Three Musketeers (SVS), Lily St. Regis in Annie (Hillbarn), the title role in Educating Rita, Carol in Black Comedy, and Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest (CTC). Proud graduate of the USC School of Dramatic Arts and USF School of Education, and also proud to be the full-time Theatre teacher and program director at Palo Alto High School!
Ranjita Chakravarty (Director)
Ranjita is excited to be directing Nilanjan Choudhury’s The Square Root of a Sonnet to open BADCo’s new season after the long “COVID hiatus”. During the shut-down Ranjita kept up her theatrical pursuits on Zoom and directed Poile Sengupta’s Alipha for BADCo. Her stage directorial credits include two Tagore classics and Madhuri Shekhar’s A Nice Indian Boy with Enacte. Ranjita has essayed many roles in the last two decades such as Ratan Ki Ma in Asghar Wajahat’s Jis Lahore, Marjorie in Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime, Dadi in Singh-Wadhera’s The Parting to name a few. Her filmography includes Perfect Mismatch with Anupam Kher and Boman Irani and many indie short films. Most recently she was thrilled to book a guest star role in Mindy Kaling’s Never Have I Ever (Season 2). Ranjita is forever grateful to her children Arjun and Alisha who encourage her and to Stanford University where she works during the day, so she can be a thespian by night.
Rita Bhatia (Stage Manager & Producer)
Rita is a passionate theatre enthusiast keenly interested in all aspects of theatre. As an actor, she has essayed several roles with BADCo, including Kamini in Divided By, Sumitra in Greater Than, Dolon in Mahesh Elkunchwar’s Sonata and Priya in Not Equal To.
Rita has adapted, produced and directed several online productions including her original short plays Chameli and Bhavna & Bhuvan. Other favorites include Forever, Mumbai Beats, Bobby & Bobbi, Chuckle with Chekhov, No Make-Up, The Vaccine, Re Invent 2020, No you Listen to Me and Mindless Whispers.
Rita is Co-founding Artistic Director of Cloud Playhouse and the Outreach Manager for Bay Area Drama Company.
Raja GuhaThakurta (Scientific Adviser)
Raja GuhaThakurta is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Astronomy/Astrophysics at the University of California Santa Cruz. He studies the formation and evolution of galaxies large and small. He is the founder and faculty director of the successful Science Internship Program, a program in which high school students are mentored by UCSC researchers and work on cutting-edge STEM research projects. He is deeply committed to bringing STEM opportunities to indigenous students and educators around the world. He received his Ph.D. in Astrophysical Sciences from Princeton University in 1989 and his B.Sc. in Physics from St. Xavier's College in Kolkata, India in 1983. In his (non-existent!) spare time, he dabbles in pencil and oil portraiture.
Sruti Sarathy
Sruti Sarathy is a versatile Carnatic violinist and vocalist based in Chennai and the Bay Area. Her music brings out the voice of the Indian violin in a contemporary and imaginative way. A Fulbright Scholar and graduate of Stanford University, Sruti collaborates with Indian classical musicians in festivals across the world. She received the "Best Violinist" award from the Madras Music Academy in 2019 and 2020, and she regularly composes and performs music for dance and theater works.
Sruti has composed the music for two Zoom productions and an audio play for BADCo.