EnActe

Founded: 2012

Languages of Performance: Hindi, English

Founded in 2012 by Vinita Sud Belani, EnActe Arts is a Silicon Valley–based nonprofit theater company dedicated to amplifying South Asian voices through contemporary, thought-provoking storytelling. Emerging from Belani’s collaboration with playwright Jean-Claude Carrière on a touring retelling of the Mahabharata, EnActe has grown into a national platform for new work, blending Eastern and Western traditions while exploring identity, belonging, and social change. With a strong emphasis on original productions and artist development, it functions as both a theater company and an incubator for diverse talent.

EnActe Performance Archive

Chitra: The Warrior Princess
Warrior Arjun meets Warrior Chitra.
Chitra: The Warrior Princess
Vasant, the God of carnal love and eternal spring grants Chitra the power to appear as the seductress for a year.
Chitra: The Warrior Princess
An episode from The Mahabharata: Born to a king promised on male heirs and raised as a male warrior, a chance meeting with Arjuna the legendary Pandava warrior invokes passion in Chitra's (Chitrangada) heart. The Pandava Warrior Arjun encounters the Warrior Princess in training.
Conference of the Birds
The phoenix, or the Simorgh, as it is known in Persia, initiates the fire dance. From the ashes of the fire, a new phoenix will be born.
Conference of the Birds
Many birds fall by the wayside during the journey, and the Hoopoe bird resorts to recounting parables to bolster their moral courage.
Conference of the Birds
Immigrant communities in America often make art in ethnic silos. EnActe Arts breaks those silos by bringing together 13 local ethnic dance companies to become The Conference of the Birds. Music by world ethno-musicologist Randy Armstrong.
Chaos Theory
The Chaos Theory set design comprises an open book with pages of Shakespeare love sonnets flying out of it.
Chaos Theory
A game of catch and couplets from Shakespeare.
Chaos Theory
Harvard history professor Mukesh and Columbia literature professor Sunita journey through 50 years of undeclared love to protect a precious friendship. Mukesh and Sunita explore other relationships while denying their own love.
The Modern Vyaasa - Retelling of the Mahabharata
A Moment of Reflection before the show begins.
The Modern Vyaasa - Retelling of the Mahabharata
Lifetime Oscar-winning scriptwriter and playwright Jean-Claude Carrière presented a one-man retelling of the Mahabharata as a final performance of his lifetime in sold-out performances in museums, universities, schools, and theaters across America. Vyaasa recounts the story of the Mahabharata to a young Bharat to a mesmerized house-full audience at UC Berkeley.
Kingdom of Cards
Written by Rabindranath Tagore, explores the dehumanizing effects of fascism and how rebellions begin. The Wanderer encourages the army of cards to find their third dimension.
Kingdom of Cards
Written by Rabindranath Tagore, explores the dehumanizing effects of fascism and how rebellions begin. The Wanderer encourages the army of cards to find their third dimension.
Noor - The Empress of the Mughals
Noor Jahan's neice, Arjumand Banu, and Crown Prince Khurram plot the downfall of Empress Noor.
Noor - The Empress of the Mughals
Incubated and world-premiered in the Bay Area by EnActe Arts, this play traces the rise of Noor Jahan as the 20th wife of Emperor Jahangir and her subsequent rise to power as the only Mughal Empress of India. Brother Asaf Khan tells his older sister, the Empress Noor Jahan, that she is to be exiled after the death of Emperor Jahangir.
Soundwaves: The Passion of Noor Inayat Khan
An unsung WW II hero: A young Muslim Indian girl caught up in German occupied Paris in World War II is trained by the SOE is embedded in the French resistance as one of the first radio spies of the allied command. Burnt alive in a concentration camp Noor Inayat Khan receieved both the George Cross and Le oix rouge posthmously. Four female radio spies are burned in the oven at Dachau weeks before the end of WWII.
The Case of the Vanishing Firefish
Ayesha's parents are too busy in their work lives to notice her disappearance.
The Case of the Vanishing Firefish
Eleven year old Ayesha is recruited by the queen of the oceans to discover why the bioluminiscent phyto plankton are dying in this Harry Potter meets Dan Brown Young Adult escapade. Ayesha, her snarky snail sidekick Caro, and her cousin Xander search the galaxies for the portal connecting the firefish to the aliens.
The Parting
Those who make it through the chaos and violence finally arrive at a refugee camp.
The Parting
The aftermath of the callous drawing of the Radcliffe line dividing India into two countries is explored through the brutality and compassion experienced by six varied families on both sides of the border. The play opens with scenes of village life in which various communities coexist peacefully.
The Jungle Book: Rudyard Revised
What if Kipling was to write the story of Jungle Book today? A multigenerational conservatory of writers transforms Kipling's classic into an authentic decolonised story centering identity and belonging.

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