 Meet Stephanie Stoner!
Stephanie portrays “Durvasa” the hot-tempered sage who places a curse on our heroes, and among other agreeable characters in PAC’s virtual reading series, in collaboration with PAPA, THE RECOGNITION OF SHAKUNTALA by Kālidāsa, directed by Pratima Agrawal. Visit this site to view & support Stephanie's work http://stephaniemstoner.blogspot.com/ If you miss Stephanie’s performance, she just might place a curse on you too Monday, November 23rd @ 7pm FREE to attend but donations are highly appreciated! REGISTER HERE ---> https://philartists-collective.ticketleap.com/the.../
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 Meet Priyanka Shetty!
Portraying “Primyamvada”, a faithful and protective friend of Shakunatala who encourages her romance with King Dusyanta, as well as multiple roles throughout the play; in PAC’s virtual reading series, in collaboration with PAPA, THE RECOGNITION OF SHAKUNTALA by Kālidāsa, directed by Pratima Agrawal. “Indian woman, now in America. The typical run of the mill software engineer turned actor who loves heavy metal. I wrote a one-woman show about my journey from India to America. Fifteen-hour flight. That's the three-word flash fiction sad version. The whole thing's an hour-long, but you didn't really miss anything...I'm Priyanka Shetty and I am an actor, director, and playwright. I graduated from the University of Virginia (UVA) with a Master of Fine Arts in Acting. I currently teach at the UVA Department of Drama.” https://www.priyankashetty.com/ The spotlight is on Priyanka on Monday, November 23rd @ 7pm FREE to attend but donations are highly appreciated! Register here ---> https://philartists-collective.ticketleap.com/the.../  Meet Shaily Dadiala!
Shaily portrays “Karabhaka” the royal messenger & “Gautami” the hermit mother who accompanies Shakuntala on her epic journey to the capital, and other roles in PAC’s virtual reading series, in collaboration with PAPA, THE RECOGNITION OF SHAKUNTALA by Kālidāsa, directed by Pratima Agrawal. Shaily Dadiala (Prasad) was born in 1978 in Bardoli, India. At the age of 9, she felt called to study Indian classical dance Bharatanatyam and to become a dancer. Ms. Dadiala founded Usiloquy Dance Designs in 2008; she is the Artistic Director, choreographer and Principal Dancer. She completed her B.A. in Dance specializing in Bharatanatyam from the Bruhad Gujarat Sangeet Samiti, India (1988-1994) and 2 year training in Hindustani Classical Music from 1987 to 1989...After moving to the USA in 2000, Ms. Dadiala taught in Queens, NY for a year before commencing Bharatanatyam classes in Levittown, PA in collaboration with the township recreation department in 2005. http://usiloquydance.org/ Go with Shaily on this heartfelt journey on Monday, November 23rd @ 7pm FREE to attend but donations are highly appreciated! REGISTER HERE ---> https://philartists-collective.ticketleap.com/the.../  Meet Madhusmita Bora!
Portraying multiple powerful/celestial beings such as “ Vetravati” the portress and “Aditi” the mother of the gods, among others in PAC’s virtual reading series, in collaboration with PAPA, THE RECOGNITION OF SHAKUNTALA by Kālidāsa, directed by Pratima Agrawal. “Born and raised in Assam, India, dancer Madhusmita Bora is co-artistic director of the Philadelphia-based Sattriya Dance Company. Trained in the classical Indian dance forms of Sattriya and Kathak, she made her debut as a dancer performing at her village temple before she turned four years old. Bora has presented work at major festivals and venues in the US and India.” http://www.sattriyadancecompany.com Watch Madhusmita’s spirited performance in wonderment on Monday, November 23rd @ 7pm FREE to attend but donations are highly appreciated! REGISTER HERE ---> https://philartists-collective.ticketleap.com/the.../  Meet Joseph Ahmed!
Joseph portrays the humorous court jester and king’s confidant “Madhavya”, as well as other eccentric roles such as “ Stage Director”, “Sharngarava” and others in PAC’s virtual reading series, in collaboration with PAPA, THE RECOGNITION OF SHAKUNTALA by Kālidāsa, directed by Pratima Agrawal. “As a multi-racial person and a multi-disciplinary artist, I’m driven by a desire to explore the in-between, the over-the-top, and the not-yet-seen...A list of titles that apply to my work in the performing arts: actor, dancer, deviser, juggler, acrobat, director of scripted plays, director of new work, director of devised processes, choreographer, musician, writer, administrator, interactive experience designer.” - Joseph Ahmed josephahmed.com Enjoy Joseph’s playful performance on Monday, November 23rd @ 7pm FREE to attend but donations are highly appreciated! REGISTER HERE ---> https://philartists-collective.ticketleap.com/the.../  Meet Anita Holland!
Portraying the well-meaning but unfortunate king “Dushyanta”, in PAC’s virtual reading series, in collaboration with PAPA, THE RECOGNITION OF SHAKUNTALA by Kālidāsa Anita Holland attended the University of Utah where she graduated with a B.F.A. in Acting. You may have seen her work with the following companies: Applied Mechanics, Quintessence, InterAct, Flashpoint, Orbiter 3, Headlong, Swim Pony, The Painted Bride, PolyGlamourous, PAPA, CCTC, and many more. She’s a weirdo who enjoys finding pockets of ugly beauty to bring to the surface. www.theanitaholland.com Watch Anita’s transformative performance of this tragic “hero” to life on Monday, November 23rd @ 7pm FREE to attend but donations are highly appreciated! REGISTER HERE ---> https://philartists-collective.ticketleap.com/the.../  Meet Shahana Jan!
Portraying the brazen titular heroine “Shakuntala”, in PAC’s virtual reading series, in collaboration with PAPA, THE RECOGNITION OF SHAKUNTALA by Kālidāsa and directed by Pratima Agrawal. Shahana is a Pakistani actress based in Philadelphia. Originally from Islamabad, Shahana began her career in the Theatre in the country’s capital at the age of 16. Amongst her other artistic pursuits, she also hosted the primetime radio show ‘The Rush Hour’ for Pakistan’s premier english radio network CityFM89. During this time, she produced various web sketches and shorts which eventually led her to study Film & Television Production in Cape Town, South Africa. Upon its completion, Shahana trained at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York City. She has worked in various production capacities in countries such as Pakistan, Turkey, Serbia, Italy, South Africa, Thailand, Kazakhstan and the United States. Her work has been televised in both Pakistan and the United States. https://shahanajan.com/ Watch Shahana portray Shakuntala’s unforgettable story Monday, November 23rd @ 7pm FREE to attend but donations are highly appreciated! REGISTER HERE ---> https://philartists-collective.ticketleap.com/the.../  Meet Pratima Agrawal, our amazing director for THE RECOGNITION OF SHAKUNTALA by Kālidāsa!
Pratima is a local performing artist and school administrator. She has been involved with PAPA since moving to Philly in 2014 and was part of PAPA’s first-year Performance Residency in 2018, which culminated in a solo performance as part of the 2018 Philadelphia Fringe Festival and 2018 Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival. She was also part of PAPA’s first Playwriting Residency cohort, which culminated in a reading series earlier this year. She would like to thank those involved in her first PAPA directing opportunity for their time and talent, and PAPA for its continued support. In her free time, Pratima is a volunteer environmental activist with the Philadelphia Ready for 100 clean energy campaign, an Advisory Board Member of Power Street Theatre Company, and a member of the PAPA Organizing Committee. Learn more at: www.pratimaagrawal.com Regarding the play, Pratima says, "There's so much I love about this play - it's beautiful poetic verses about nature, a variety of interesting characters, and the epic-ness of it. At the same time, I recognize (no pun intended) that this is a play with some ideas that may not sit well with many of us today. With this translation and reading, I hope that the audience can appreciate Kālidāsa's literary artistry within the context of ancient Indian mythology." The play follows Shakuntala and her betrothal to King Dushyanta, and how her destiny becomes intertwined with that of Indian history. This event is FREE to attend but any donations are greatly appreciated and split between PAPA and PAC. Don't miss this chance to hear and see this rare classic. Monday, November 23 at 7:00pm An online event. Register at: https://philartists-collective.ticketleap.com/the.../  This production could not have been possible without Heather Helinsky!
Meet Heather, our Associate Producer for PAC’s virtual reading of Alice Childress’s TROUBLE IN MIND. Heather Helinsky (Associate Producer) is a freelance dramaturg based in Philadelphia and the current Literary Manager for Playwrights Foundation/Bay Area Playwrights Festival and the Contest Dramaturg for Jewish Plays Project, with an MFA degree in Dramaturgy & Theatre Studies from A.R.T./Moscow Art Theatre/Harvard. Fifteen years of experience as a professional dramaturg, specifically in the area of new play development, traveling widely around regional theatre, and focused on advocating for women playwrights and writers of color. Since 2010, she’s been a script reader for Sundance Theatre Lab, Seven Devils, Great Plains Theatre Commons, KCACTF, and the O’Neill. Notable production dramaturgy: Caridad Svich’s NNPN rolling world premiere of Guapa, Tira Palmquist’s climate change play Two Degrees at the Denver Center, PTC's production of Terrence McNally's Golden Age, and the development of JT Rogers’ Oslo. Since 2012, she has also been a guest dramaturg and teaching artist for the Kennedy Center, traveling regionally to festivals and reading for the Steinberg/David Mark Cohen award, the VSA Discovery series, and helped curate the Undergraduate Playwrights Workshop under Artistic Director Gregg Henry. In pre-Covid times, she was a Barrymore Judge for Theatre Philadelphia for two concurrent seasons, where she grew tired of how many productions centered on whiteness. “...My experience with Alice Childress is seeing her produced at regional festivals through the Kennedy Center’s program. I learned her story of being denied access to her Broadway premiere in the 1950s, not from my academic training program, but by reading KCACTF student dramaturgy production casebooks, and then wondering why Philadelphia hasn’t produced more Black female writers in my own hometown. Dramaturgs question, and we push for more inclusion, and I’m grateful PAC listened.” PAC's virtual reading for Alice Childress's TROUBLE IN MIND Saturday, October 24th @ 7pm FREE to attend; ALL donations benefit BLM Philly  The talented Daniel Kontz is responsible for the cool edits you’ll see as the Videographer for PAC’s virtual reading of Alice Childress’s TROUBLE IN MIND.
Daniel Kontz is a multi-disciplinary designer from London, England, who designs sights and sounds for clients in the theatre industry and beyond. Currently based in Philadelphia, he offers services across a range of media, including video production, photography, graphic design, theatrical sound design, & theatrical projection design. www.danielkontzdesign.com PAC'S virtual reading for Alice Childress's TROUBLE IN MIND Saturday, October 24th @ 7pm FREE to attend; ALL donations benefit BLM Philly |
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