Playwright Shishir Kurup
Directed by Stuart Carden
Choreography by Alka Nayyar
Featuring Anjali Asokan, Dipika Cherala, Cesar Conde, Kamal Hans, Anil Hurkadli, Anish Jethmalani, Shishir Kurup, Julian Martinez, Marvin Quijada, Sadieh Rifai, Marc Rita, Prinadhi Varshney, and Tariq Vasudeva
Venice, Italy intersects with the Indian Diaspora of Venice Beach, California in a wickedly funny, wildly inventive, and politically provocative re-imagining of Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice. Written in iambic pentameter and vividly colored by Indian, American and Latino pop references, playwright Shishir Kurup transforms Shakespeare’s original by injecting the story with Bollywood musical numbers, L.A. Punk, Hindu-Muslim tensions, and a distinctly American landscape.
The staged reading was followed by a Q&A session with the playwright.
