KriyaShakti

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The Power to Act with Intelligent, Creative Energy

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Current Project

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KriyaShakti โ€ข The Power to Act with Intelligent, Creative Energy โ€ข Current Project โ€ข

Suni M! as โ€œNaniโ€ - Photo: Nick Graves

EXTENDED!

By Popular Demand -

EXTENDED! By Popular Demand -

About

While preparing dinner, three generations of Indian women clash and comfort one another. Willow, a young academic, is eager to learn all that her Nani can teach her. Aditi, a divorced mom, finds herself stuck between an overbearing mother and a critical daughter. Nani, the familyโ€™s matriarch, must face Jersey City once again after having moved back to India. What will happen when loss, love, and longing are shared across the dinner table?

New play, ABCD, by emerging South Asian playwright Lily Abha Cratsley unpacks what it means to be an "American Born Confused Desi." ABCD unravels the relationships between a daughter, a mother, and a Nani as they reunite for the first time in years and navigate their dual identities. It is a deep dive into intergenerational trauma and the legacy of the real Indian hate group, the Dotbusters, that rose to prominence in New Jersey in the '80s. This play gives voice to the female perspectiveโ€“the grace, the fire, the indignation, the sorrow, and ultimately the comforting joy that is felt by these women as they face each other and themselves.

Press

Stage Raw - Recommended Top 10

โ€œAn intergenerational comedy drama,โ€ฆABCD has plenty of down-to-earth, slice-of-life humor. Yet it also makes serious points about the difficulties of assimilation and the ever-present danger of racial hatred in American society.โ€

Broadway World LA

โ€œABCD offers an untold narrative in the canon of South Asian-American theater: What does it mean to be an "American Born Confused Desi"?โ€ฆWhat will happen when loss, love, and longing are shared across the dinner table?โ€

CAST & CREW

Production History

ABCD was previously a featured finalist in two competitive new works festivals with virtual readings directed by the inimitable Reena Dutt. The first staged reading was part of the Occidental College New Works Festival. The cast was composed of Nikita Chaudhry, Shivani Thakkar, and Shruti Tewari. The second reading was part of the Garry Marshall Theatre New Works Festival, where ABCD was one of the five plays selected out of a pool of over 300 submissions. Anjani Joshi, Sharmila Devar, and Suni M! took on the leading roles for this reading. 

Producing Partner

We are thrilled to be partnering with Greenway Arts Alliance for this first staging of ABCD. Check out more about this lovely company, the Greenway Court Theatre, and their huge impact on arts and community!

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