Sukanya Chakrabarti is an Associate Professor of Theatre Arts at Department of Film and Theater, San Jose State University. She is an artist (playwright, director, actor, dramaturg, singer) and a scholar and educator. She has worked with multiple productions all over Silicon Valley and nationally and internationally, in different capacities. She is the most recent translator of Rabindranath Tagore's Taasher Desh (Kingdom of Cards) and has co-adapted a Kingdom of Cards production that opens at the Hammer Theatre, San Jose, at the end of April 2026.
This image depicts the wedding dance of Keshav and Naveen in the play, which is a is a romantic comedy about a traditional Indian family in the Bay Area navigating love, identity, and cultural expectations when their son brings home an unexpected partner.
A Zoom rehearsal with the cast of Dealing Dreams, a play by Jeffrey Lo. The play, which is based in the Bay Area, is about chasing big aspirations while confronting the emotional costs and realities that come with them.
A post-show image of the cast and creative team of a dance-theatre performance, Raabdta, which is a dance-theatre production about discovering a deep, emotional connection to one’s home, homeland and cultural roots through nostalgic traditions and heritage.
The final scene of a devised performance project, What's Your Story? Telling Stories of the Desi Diaspora, with the students of SJSU. The piece documents the South Asian diasporic experience, challenging stereotypes, and mapping the evolution of the American landscape through community storytelling.
A scene from Yoga Play, a satirical comedy set in the corporate world of a yoga‑apparel company. The play uses humor and absurdity to explore consumer culture’s commodification of wellness, the search for authenticity, and identity in a globalized, profit‑driven society.
A scene from The Conference of the Birds, which is an ensemble-driven stage adaptation of Attar’s poem in which a group of travelers, guided by the hoopoe, undertake a symbolic journey through trials that strip away ego, fear, and illusion, ultimately revealing that the divine they seek is a reflection of their own collective self.
A scene from the staged reading of Democratically Speaking. The play examines the evolving ideals and lived realities of democracy, tracing its roots from ancient Greece to movements like Occupy, through a vibrant staged reading that weaves together voices from across history—from classical thinkers and playwrights to modern activists and political leaders—creating a rich, multi-perspective dialogue on power, justice, and civic life.
This is a scene from the play Merchant on Venice by Shishir Kurup. The play, which is an adaptation of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, follows Jitendra, a Bollywood actor chasing success in Hollywood, who plots to marry a wealthy heiress to fund his film but becomes entangled with a dangerous Muslim moneylender, risking his closest friendship; the play explores identity, ambition, and the tensions of diaspora life while probing themes of empathy, prejudice, and personal responsibility.
A scene from Yoni ki Baat, which is inspired by Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues, and conceptualized in 2003 by South Asian Sisters, a women's collective. It reflects the gender experience of the South Asian Diaspora.
