Abhinaya: A Dance Play

a workshop presentation of a new play by Veda Kumarjiguda

directed by Dina Vovsi

choreography by Preeti Vasudevan

music direction by Bala Skandan

Monday June 16th at 3PM and 7PM || FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Avni is preparing for her arangetram, her Indian classical dance debut. Her training grounds her, even as her family falls apart. Money struggles, divorce, secrets, and the failed American dream combine with stories from the Ramayana and Mahābhārata. Abhinaya: A Dance Play explores family and the role of classical arts in the modern world.

featuring Abhirami Rao, Preeti Vasudevan, Parvathy Rajagopalan, Alok Tewari, Shreya Muju with Bala Skandan (Mridangam) Visveshwar Nagarajan (Flute), Krupa Sekhar (Violin) and Rutva Narayan

stage management by Mia Qin 秦梦圆

Abhinaya: A Dance Play is being presented as a part of the cell's residency program.

about the artists

Veda Kumarjiguda (Playwright) is a writer based in Queens, New York. Her theatrical work has appeared at New Jersey's South Asian Theater Festival (2012 and 2013) and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2015). She was an Echoes Fellow in 2021. Her recent performance credits include Troy Anthony's The Revival: It Is Our Duty (The Shed, 2021) and The Shape of Stories, her one-woman dance program for children through UrbanStages. Her work is both a product and a celebration of the effort to build creative moments into everyday life.

Dina Vovsi (Director) is a New York-based director, theatermaker, and educator. Recent projects include The Blue Parts with co-creator Liba Vaynberg (2024-25 Next Stage Special Residency at The Drama League, Working Theater 5 Boroughs 1 City Commission, and 2023 NYSCA Support for Artists Grant) and River Watchers, a site-specific, journey-based play she conceived and directed on a 14-seat Langley canoe in Newtown Creek and co-created with Dan Caffrey and Jens Rasmussen (The Motor Company, 2023 Brooklyn Arts Council and Puffin Foundation Grants). Dina has directed and developed new work with WP Theater, The Civilians, New Georges, Working Theater, Cape Cod Theatre Project, The Orchard Project, New Dramatists, The Bushwick Starr, Fresh Ground Pepper, and more. She is a New Georges Affiliated Artist and current co-leader of the New Georges Jam, and an alum of the WP Directors’ Lab, the Roundabout Directors Group, the Mercury Store Directing Lab, the Robert Moss Directing Fellowship at Playwrights Horizons, The Civilians’ R&D Group, the Lincoln Center Directors’ Lab, and the SDC Foundation Observership. As an associate/assistant director, Dina has worked on Broadway, off-Broadway, and regionally with Roundabout, Playwrights Horizons, Spoleto Festival USA, Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, and more. A frequent guest director at universities, Dina also teaches directing at Playwrights Horizons Theater School at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and acting at Brooklyn College's MFA Acting Graduate Program. www.dinavovsi.com