Aditi Brennan Kapil
Contact Info
Minneapolis, MN
Playwright accepts commissions.
Bio
Aditi Brennan Kapil is an actress, writer, and director, of Bulgarian and Indian descent, raised in Sweden, and currently residing in Minneapolis, MN. She is a graduate of Macalester College with a BA in English and Dramatic Arts.
Her latest play, “Love Person,” A four part love story in Sanskrit, ASL and English, was developed during a Many Voices residency at the Playwrights’ Center, work-shopped at the Lark Center for New Play Development in NY, and selected for reading at the National New Play Network conference. “Love Person” is being produced in a rolling world premiere at Mixed Blood Theatre (MN), Marin Theater (CA), and Phoenix Theatre (IN), in the 2007/08 season. In 2008/09 it will be produced by Live Girls in Seattle, and Victory Gardens in Chicago. “Love Person” has been nominated for the Blackburn Prize, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Steinberg Award.
Her current works-in-progress, “Agnes Under The Big Top” received a DISTINGUISHED NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT selection from the NEA New Play Development Program hosted by Arena Stage, and will be developed at the Lark Center for New Play Development (NY), Mixed Blood Theatre (MN), InterAct Theatre (PA), the Playwrights’ Center (MN), and the Rhodope International Theater Laboratory (Bulgaria). “Agnes…” is slated for production at Mixed Blood Theatre in 2010.
Aditi’s playwriting credits include a number of plays for youth, including “The Deaf Duckling,” a bilingual (ASL & English) educational touring show about growing up Deaf, created in collaboration with Deaf performer Nic Zapko for Mixed Blood Theater, and “The Adventures of Hanuman, King of the Monkeys,” a Bollywood style musical inspired by tales from the Ramayana for SteppingStone Theater for Youth Development (March 2006). She has also collaborated on several productions with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theater, notably “Gotama” a play about the early life of the Buddha, and ‘Beneath the Surface,” a water circus. She is currently developing “Hanuman and the Girl Prince” for SteppingStone Theatre for Youth, a play in iambic verse loosely based on an episode in the Mahabharata.
“Messy Utopia” which she directed, and co-wrote with Seema Sueko, Velina Hasu-Houston, Janet Allard, and Naomi Iizuka, received an Ivey Award, and #6 in the City Pages Best of the Twin Cities 2007.
Plays
Full Length Plays
Agnes Under the Big Top
A play with music, motion, and many languages about immigrants in America.
Work-in-progress.
Commissioned by Mixed Blood Theatre, selected as a Distinguished New Play Development Project by the NEA New Play Development Program, hosted by Arena Stage.
Love Person
A four part love story in Sanskrit, ASL and English, originally created in a Many Voices residency at the Playwrights’ Center- Minneapolis, MN
1st Reading: Wednesday Night Roundtable, Playwrights’ Center, MN; March 2005
Commissioned for further development by Mixed Blood Theater, MN; July 2006
Workshop: Playwrights Week, Lark Theater, NY; September 2006
Reading: National New Play Network Conference; December 2006
Workshop Production: Icarus Falling Theater, Lansing, MI, June 2007
Produced in a rolling world premiere as part of NNPNs CLNPF Program, 2007/2008 Season at Mixed Blood Theatre, MN; Marin Theater, CA; Phoenix Theater, IN
Slated for production 2008/2009 Season at Live Girls Theatre, WA; Victory Gardens, IL
Nominated for Pulitzer Prize in playwriting.
One Acts & Short Plays
Hanuman and the Girl Prince
Work-in-progress.
A play for youth in iambic verse. Adapted loosely from a brief incident in the Mahabharata, and the dance drama ‘Chitrangada’ by Rabindranath Tagore. Commissioned by SteppingStone Theater for Youth Development. Slated for production in Fall 2009.
Messy Utopia, The Ballad of Accountant Jo
One of 5 short plays about the biracial experience, created in collaboration with Velina Hasu-Houston, Naomi Iizuka, Seema Sueko, and Janet Allard.
Commissioned and Produced by Mixed Blood Theatre-Minneapolis, MN; March 2007
Winner of The Ivey Award in 2007, #6 in the Minneapolis City Pages Top 10 shows of 2007
The Adventures of Hanuman, King of the Monkeys
A Bollywood-style musical re-telling of the central story in the Ramayana from the perspective of Hanuman the mischievous monkey.
Recipient of Cultural Community Partnership Grant, MN State Arts Board.
Commissioned and Produced by SteppingStone Theater for Youth-Minneapolis, MN; March 2006
The Deaf Duckling
An educational play about growing up Deaf, created in collaboration with Deaf Performer, Nic Zapko.
Work-shop: PlayLabs 2004 at Playwrights’ Center, MN.
Commissioned and Produced by Mixed Blood Theater; Toured the Midwest, April 2005 & 2006
Adapted and produced in schools by Deaf West Theater- LA, CA- Nov. 2005
Produced at Arizona State University, Fall 2008
Buck the Rider
10-minute play commissioned by Thirst Theater, Produced Winter 2007
The Courbet Cure
10-minute play commissioned by Thirst Theater, Produced Spring 2006.
Cirkus Kalashnikov
10-minute play about an immigrant Bulgarian subway driver with a tendency to kill people. Produced by Emigrant Theater as part of 9/11 evening, 2006
Grants and Fellowships
- NEA/Arena Stage- Distinguished New Play Development Project Selection
- Playwrights’ Center- Core Writer, 2008-2010
- Rhodope International Theater Collective, Bulgaria- Resident Artist, 2008
- The Bush Foundation- Finalist for the 2007 Artist Fellowship in playwriting
- The Lark Theater, New York- Playwrights Week, 2006
- MN State Arts Board- Cultural Community Partnership w/ SteppingStone Theater, 2005
- Playwrights’ Center, Minneapolis- Many Voices Residency. 2004
- Playwrights’ Center, Minneapolis- PlayLabs Fellow, 2004
- Jerome Foundation, Minneapolis- Travel and Study Grant, 2000