Shunya Announces its Twelfth Season

HOUSTON: Shunya Theatre, Houston’s own South Asian theatre troupe, closed 2013 by announcing its twelfth season. The 2014 season features three plays to activate the neurons, tug the heart strings, and tickle the funny bones of artists and audience members of all shapes and sizes. In April 2014 Shunya will present Shane Sakhrani’s “A Widow of No Importance,” an unconventional romantic comedy about a widow named Deepa whose preoccupation with marrying off her daughter leads to an unexpected encounter of her own. What is a widow to do? Then in August Shunya presents its second ever youth production, “The Jungle Book,” adapted by Stuart Paterson.  Paterson’s marvelous re-telling of the Kipling classic provides an equal measure of comedy and menace. Complete with song and dance routines, flatulent monkeys, bumbling bears, sinister jackals, and a boy named Mowgli, this production is sure to bump children and adults off their seats with fright and delight. Finally, in November, Shunya presents Rahul Varma’s “Bhopal,” set amid the events that preceded the 1984 Union Carbide disaster that killed nearly 8,000 people. Varma’s timely drama reveals the human stories within the complex political and economic webs that led to the worst industrial catastrophe in history.

Shunya holds open auditions for all of its productions, and many Houston actors have had their stage debuts in Shunya productions. Auditions for adult men and women for “A Widow of No Importance” will be held Saturday, January 4 from (3-6 PM) and Monday, January 6 (7-10 PM) at The Barn, 2201 Preston, Houston TX 77003.

Further details about auditions and volunteer opportunities are available at www.shunyatheatre.org.