SouthAsianPlaywrights.org

Synopsis: Sheela, newly-wed and newly-arrived to a big town, overcomes her alienation and loneliness by getting hooked onto the daily lessons of the TV TUTOR. Her husband, Govind, is an engineeer who is busy with work and busy with his pals.
The TV TUTOR is somewhat magical in its interactions with Sheela, and she gets herself [...]

Synopsis: The life of a Pakistani American family in Manhattan after 9/11.
Setting: A Manhattan apartment, restaurant, TV studio, anti-war demonstration, arts studio
Time Period: 2002
Cast Size: 8
Casting:
MOTHER, 40, Pakistani American
SONS (2), 20, American-born Pakistani
DAUGHTER, 19, American-born Pakistani
FRIEND, 19, American-born Pakistani
MUSLIM QUR’AN TEACHER, 40
TV EXECUTIVES (2), 30s, white American males
This Play is: Unpublished
Production History:

Theater for the New [...]

Synopsis: Sarah, a suburban housewife, befriends her gay neighbor Mike when he loses his longtime companion in a motorcycle accident. The two form a strange bond when Mike learns that Sarahâ s first husband was also killed in a car accident. They spend their nights mourning their lost loves in their own unique way until [...]

Synopsis: The Moral Implications of Time Travel takes place in the early nineties, on the semi-rural/suburban outskirts of Detroit where Anil Das, an Indian immigrant to America now in his sixties, lives with Pranav, his thirty year old son who has never moved out.
       At the outset of the play, Anil announces that [...]

Synopsis: 
ABCD:  A Work in Progress
Twenty years ago Saira lost both of her parents in a tragic car accident and was raised by a white foster family.  When an olfactory reaction to an aromatic dessert brings with it her first memories of the car accident that took her parents life, Saira begins a desperate journey to [...]

Synopsis: CHUP is the story of two estranged sisters who come to terms with their relationship after the death of their mother.  Having grown up straddling two communities and cultures amidst secrets and taboos, one sister, Saima has chosen to stay close to home and to her traditional Indian-Muslim values while the other has chosen [...]

Synopsis: Sunima returns home to announce her pending engagement, but instead gets trapped in the family loss they never dealt with.  As this multi-cultural, Muslim family begins to fragment, we begin to piece together the past each one hides, and the future they all share.
Setting: New Jersey
Time Period: 2002
Cast Size: 4M, 2W
Casting: 
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This Play Is: Published with the Alexander [...]

Synopsis: David and Diane were high school sweethearts who married after Diane became pregnant. Now they live in a cramped studio apartment in Manhattan, where Diane takes care of their two-year old son. When David announces that his boss has fired him, the couple spirals into an argument that forces them to reevaluate their married [...]

Synopsis: Racism.  Hate crimes. Love. Islam. Culture. Language. Life.
Five Muslim women in a post-9/11 world serve tea and uncover what lies beneath the veil in this compelling one-woman show. (Can also be performed with multiple actors).
Setting: United States and London, England
Time Period: Post 9/11
Cast Size: One woman Show or Multiple actors.
Casting:
Character Breakdown For Unveiled
Part One [...]

Synopsis: Sangeet is a play about London in the 1980s. Thatcher is in power, everyone is drunk, and Harp wants to marry Vicki. The problem: both their fathers seriously don’t like the idea. His is an ex-strongman from India, hers is a nurse’s aide distinctly lacking any bedside manners.
Setting: London
Time Period: 1980s
Cast Size: 4
This Play [...]

Synopsis: An inventive fusion of Chekhov’s Three Sisters and Tagore’s The Home and the World, Sankalpan evokes a time of revolution that draws sharp parallels to the geopolitics of today. A story about self-determination both in the psyches of individuals hungry for change and in the psyche of an evolving national identity, Sankalpan is set [...]

Synopsis: A 45 minute play for youth about a child growing up Deaf in a Hearing family.
Setting: Various
Time Period: The Present
Cast Size: 3
Casting:
SAM: Deaf Actor or Actress
MAN: ASL Proficient Actor- plays Papa Duck, Mr. Swan, various kids
WOMAN: ASL Proficient Actress- plays Mama Duck, Teacher, various kids
*Casting Note: Due to the story-telling nature of this script, [...]

Synopsis: This Bollywood-style musical for youth is loosely adapted from episodes of the Ramayana. It follows the adventures of Hanuman the monkey, a mischievous young social outcast who discovers his true nature and heroic destiny by helping his friend Rama rescue the Princess Sita from Ravana, a ten-headed demon.
Setting: Northern India, Punjab to be exact
Time [...]

Synopsis: Love Person is a four part love story in Sanskrit, ASL and English. The people who populate this love story are uncommonly invested in their language as it defines who they are and their place in the world. In this story love transcends sexual orientation, physical attraction, and social structure, and rests instead on [...]