17/05/2026
YAKADA YAKA is a major milestone in my theatre-making journey🚂… I started out writing “solo”shows out of necessity—during the COVID-19 lockdowns, the forced hiatus from live performances drove me to create ‘QUARANteen’ (dir. .de.chickera slide 2) commissioned by which was then filmed because live events were restricted - but while I was planning to take a live-version to Edinburgh Fringe, Sri Lanka’s story changed drastically so I wrote and toured a 2nd solo show, ‘GROWTHesque’(slide 3) with . Since starting college , though I’d created a 3rd solo play (‘Lab-Grown Meat’, dir. ) and a song cycle for a new musical with alongside Stanford coursework, I felt that I’d fallen short of fully realizing an new production that pushed my own boundaries ~until now.
I’ve been writing YAKADA YAKA since the summer of 2024 inspired by an idea from my father and based on interviews conducted with Sri Lankans who’ve dealt with suicidal ideation and attempts (it’s a dark comedy).
YAKADA YAKA is my longest-form directorial project where I don’t also have to act — thanks to my wonderful cast of 11 starring & .eben and featuring many first-time actors from the South Asian community across undergraduate, graduate and post-doctorate departments. Oh and don’t get me started on the 10 staff & crew members led by & , and the many angels across & whose praises cannot be contained to this caption’s character limit; lookout for the full credits+special thanks in our show’s program.
Directing this team has been a transformative experience that has also deepened my appreciation for the craft, and I’m excited for you all to see what we’ve been cooking over the past many months.
GET YOUR TICKETS before they run out!
