Leela is different. A teenager from India, she draws life’s important moments in her journal. When a family wedding gets boring, her rebellious cousin decides to run for it with her boyfriend—and take Leela along. As they careen through Orange County, navigating dangerous situations from dusk to dawn, Leela challenges their view of her—and each other. A touching story about a young woman on the spectrum of autism and her search for her place in the world.

Previews: March 5-9, 2017
First Night: March 10, 2017
Regular Performances: March 11-26, 2017

Recommendation: Suitable for age 13 and above. Contains adult language, fog and haze effects.

Running Time: Approximately ​90 minutes, with no intermission.

Aditi Brennan Kapil is a writer, actress and director of Bulgarian and Indian descent. She was raised in Sweden and resides in Minneapolis. Her play Love Person, a four-part love story in Sanskrit, American Sign Language and English, received the 2009 Stavis Playwriting Award. Love Personwas produced in a National New Play Network (NNPN) rolling world premiere at Mixed Blood Theatre, Marin Theater Company and Phoenix Theatre. Her play Agnes Under the Big Top, a tall talewas selected as a 2009 Distinguished New Play Development Project by the National Endowment for the Arts’ New Play Development Program hosted by Arena Stage. AgnesUnder the Big Toppremiered at Mixed Blood Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre and Borderlands Theater as part of an NNPN rolling world premiere. Kapil’s Displaced Hindu Godstrilogy consists of Brahman/i: A One-Hijra Stand-Up Comedy Show; The Chronicles of Kalki; and Shiv. These internationally produced plays, based on the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, premiered at Mixed Blood Theatre, and Brahman/iand The Chronicles of Kalkireceived an unprecedented double nomination for the James Tait Black Prize from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In the 2016-17 season, she has premiered Orangeat Mixed Blood Theatre and a revisionist comedy, Imogen Says Nothing,at Yale Repertory Theatre. In addition, she is working on commissions from La Jolla Playhouse and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. She is the Mellon Playwright-in-Residence at Mixed Blood Theatre, an artistic associate at Park Square Theatre, a Core Writer at the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis and a resident playwright at New Dramatists. aditikapil.com

Learn more about the production, cast & creative team with a peek into the program. Read full artist bios, in-depth articles and more.

Cast

	Anjali Bhimani (​All the Women) appeared at SCR previously in the Pacific Playwrights Festival reading of Orange. On stage, she was seen most recently as Safia Das in the world premiere of D. Tucker Smith’s Roof of the World at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. On Broadway, she appeared as Bollywood diva Rani in Bombay Dreams and as Myrrha and Others in Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses. Her other theatre credits include The Jungle Book, The Odyssey, Mirror of the Invisible World (Goodman Theatre), The American Pilot (Manhattan Theatre Club), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Kirk Douglas Theatre), Comedy on the Bridge and Brundibar (Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre) and more. Her television credits include PR maven Wendy in the new series “Cassandra French’s Finishing School,” “NCIS: LA,” “Silicon Valley,” “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders,” “The Sopranos,” “Shark,” “Law & Order: SVU,” “Flight of the Conchords,” “Dog With a Blog,” “The Fosters,” “Modern Family” and many more. She can be seen in the film Miss India America, as former pageant queen and pageant organizer Pinky Matthews, and the upcoming film Trafficked, starring Ashley Judd. Bhimani also is the voice of the hero Symmetra in the epic game Overwatch by Blizzard Entertainment. More at www.AnjaliBhimani.com and @sweeetanj (Twitter/IG).
	Pia Shah (​​​Leela) is making her SCR debut. She portrayed the character of Leela in readings of Orange at the Pacific Playwrights Festival, CrossRoads and the Perry Mansfield New Works Festival. She has been featured in other new works including The Fit by Carey Perloff (directed by Casey Stangl at Kansas City Repertory); Basketcases by Cheryl West (directed by Robert Egan, Seattle Repertory); Dry Land by Ruby Rae Spiegel (directed by Adrienne Campbell Holt, Ojai Playwrights Conference); Wild Blue by Jen Silverman (Theatre @ Boston Court); Sweet Home by Lina Patel (Circle X Theatre Company); Body Politic by Jessica Goldberg (Goddard College); Noms de Guerre by Jacqueline Wright (Pasadena Playhouse); and A Nice Indian Boy by Madhuri Shekhar (East West Players). Her television and film credits include Disney’s Planes, 8 X 10 Tasveer (Bollywood), “Grey’s Anatomy,” Marvel’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D,” “Mercy,” HBO’s “The Wonderful Maladys” and PBS’ “PIA.” She co-wrote the film Grass, which won Best Narrative Feature at the Austin Asian American Film Festival, and a nomination for Best Actress at the Los Angeles Pacific Asian American Film Festival. She is a graduate of American Conservatory Theater’s Summer Training Congress and The William Esper Studio. She attended Johns Hopkins University and holds an MFA from USC’s School of Dramatic Arts. @piajune
	Karthik Srinivasan (​​​All the Men) makes his SCR debut. His other theatre credits include The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Geffen Playhouse) and Shiv (also by Aditi Brennan Kapil at The Theatre @ Boston Court). His television credits include “How I Met Your Mother,” “NCIS: LA,” “Shameless,” “The Bold & The Beautiful” and “Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders.” One of his films, The Tiger Hunter, is currently wrapping up the festival circuit and is due for a 2017 release. He holds a degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech, where he stumbled into acting while taking an elective he needed to graduate. Originally from New Delhi, Srinivasan is passionate about spreading his love of the Hindi language and does so by teaching it occasionally. He is honored to be a part of Orange and thanks his cast, crew and family for the support. Follow him @KathrikVasan and online at KarthikiIsHere.com.

Creative Team

Jessica Kubzansky (Director) is the co-artistic director of The Theatre @ Boston Court and an award-winning director who works nationally. Her recent directing work includes Jeanne Sakata’s Hold These Truths (Portland Center Stage); Stupid F**king Bird (ACT, Seattle); Luis Alfaro’s Mojada, A Medea (The Theatre @ Boston Court at The Getty Villa); the New York premiere of Sheila Callaghan’s Everything You Touch (Rattlestick Playwrights Theater at the Cherry Lane Theatre); RII, her own three-person Richard II (The Theatre @ Boston Court); and world premieres of Stefanie Zadravec’s Colony Collapse, EYT, Michael Elyanow’s The Children, Jordan Harrison’s Futura, Laura Schellhardt’s Courting Vampires, Salamone/McIntyre’s musical Gulls, Mickey Birnbaum’s Bleed Rail, Carlos Murillo’s Unfinished American Highwayscape #9 & 32, Jean Claude Van Itallie’s Light, Cody Henderson’s Cold/Tender, as well as Camino Real and Mother Courage (all at Boston Court). Among her other directing credits are James Still’s I Love to Eat (Portland Center Stage); Macbeth (Antaeus Theatre Company); The 39 Steps (La Mirada); Pygmalion, Mauritius (Pasadena Playhouse); Hamlet with Leo Marks, The Winter’s Tale and Jen Haley’s Breadcrumbs (Theater 150); Glass Menagerie, Toys in the Attic, Heartbreak House (The Colony Theatre); Julia Cho’s The Language Archive (East West Players); Sheila Callaghan’s Kate Crackernuts (24th Street Theatre); and more. Her favorite SCR directing credits are The Stinky Cheese Man and Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing. Kubzansky has received numerous awards including the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Sustained Excellence in Theatre.

Michael B. Raiford (Scenic Design) is a scenic and costume designer based in Austin, Texas. He previously designed Going to a Place where you Already Are, Peter and the Starcatcher and Death of a Salesman at SCR. His national and regional theatre and opera credits include Geva Theatre (Rochester, NY), The Cleveland Play House, Opera Boston, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, Central City Opera, Aurora Theatre Company, PlayMakers Repertory Company, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Ford’s Theatre (Washington, D.C.), The New Victory Theater (New York) and Actors Theatre of Louisville. At Actors Theatre, Raiford designed more than 20 shows including a dozen world premiere productions at The Humana Festival of New American Plays. In Austin, he has designed at Ballet Austin, Austin Lyric Opera, Rude Mechanicals, ZACH Theatre and Hyde Park Theatre. In addition, he recently directed Blast, The Music of Disney for a national tour of Japan. Raiford received his MFA from University of Texas at Austin, where he also taught design for 10 years. He is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. To see more of his work, visit flickr.com/photos/michaelraiford/sets.

Denitsa Bliznakova (Costume Design) is happy to make her debut at SCR. Her work has been seen nationwide at venues including the Geffen Playhouse, Old Globe Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, San Diego Opera, Cleveland Play House, A Noise Within, New Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival and The Falcon Theatre. Bliznakova just finished a production of Long Day’s Journey Into Night at the Geffen Playhouse and she has upcoming projects at Mark Taper Forum. She also has costume design and stylist credits for film and music videos. Her work has been nominated for Outstanding Costume Design for the LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award and the Colorado Theatre Guild Henry Award. She is a professor in the School of Theatre, Television and Film at San Diego State University and is also the head of the MFA Design and Technology program. Bliznakova is a graduate of Parsons School of Design and Brandeis University. Her work may be viewed at Denitsa.com.

Jaymi Lee Smith (Lighting Design) is thrilled to be at SCR again after working on All the Way, Vietgone, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Stinky Cheese Man, Topdog/Underdog, Lucky Duck and Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business. She has been designing around the country for the last 16 years at theatres such as Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theater Center, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Alley Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, Goodman Theatre, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, The Court Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Hartford Stage, Alliance Theatre, Getty Villa, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory and Lookingglass Theatre Company. Her work also has been seen in China, Italy, Spain, Scotland and Ireland. Her awards include the 2003 Michael Merritt/Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award, a 2014 Column Award, a 2016 Sage Award and a 2010 Joseph Jefferson Award. She currently is a professor of lighting design and associate head of design at UC Irvine. Her website is jaymismith.com.

John Nobori (​Sound Design) is a California-based sound designer and composer. His work has been heard in plays produced by such organizations as Cornerstone Theater Company, The Getty Villa and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. His other recent credits include The Lewis Family Playhouse’s production of The Secret Garden and Native Voices’ production of They Don’t Talk Back. He has been nominated for several awards for excellence in sound design and is the recent recipient of an Ovation Award for his work on The Golden Dragon at The Theatre @ Boston Court. He earned his BA at University of California, Irvine.

Mike Tutaj (​​Projection Design) joins SCR for the first time with this production of Orange. Based in Chicago, Tutaj has been designing projections for theatre and live performance for more than 15 years. His Chicago credits include productions with Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Court Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Writers’ Theatre, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Second City, Paramount Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Marriott Theatre, TimeLine Theatre and Northlight Theatre. His off-Broadway credits include Ride the Cyclone (MCC Theater), Wilderness (EnGarde Arts) and Tomorrow Morning (York Theatre). His regional credits include productions with Indiana Repertory Theatre, The Alliance Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Center Stage, Syracuse Stage, Virginia Stage Company, Children’s Theatre Company, City Theatre Company and Theatre Squared. Tutaj is an artistic associate with TimeLine Theatre Company and served as adjunct faculty at Columbia College Chicago. miketutaj.com

Lyuben Dimitrov (​Illustrator) is a California-based Bulgarian artist who moved to the U.S. at the end of 1999. He works as an artist/animator in the Los Angeles area. His credits include art for series on the Adult Swim network, as well as animation for commercials and post-production companies like Roger, Stardust, Gentleman Scholar, State Design and many others. He earned his MFA at the Krastyo Sarafov National Academy for Theatre and Film Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Kimberly Coburn (​Dramaturg) is South Coast Repertory’s literary director and co-director of the Pacific Playwrights Festival. Her recent dramaturg work has included the recent world premiere productions of Going to a Place Where you Already Are by Bekah Brunstetter and Future Thinking by Eliza Clark. Formerly, she was the literary manager at Actors Theatre of Louisville, where she was the dramaturg for the world premieres of Partners by Dorothy Fortenberry, The Roommate by Jen Silverman and Dot by Colman Domingo, among others. Prior to that, she was the associate literary director at SCR and was the dramaturg for world premieres of The Long Road Today by José Cruz González, Zoe Kazan’s Trudy and Max in Love and A Wrinkle in Time adapted by John Glore, among dozens of other productions and readings. She has worked with companies including Los Angeles Opera, Sledgehammer Theatre, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Critical Mass Ensemble, Artists at Play and Native Voices at the Autry.

Kathryn Davies (​Stage Mananger) previously stage-managed The Roommate, All the Way, Future Thinking, Red, Vietgone, OZ 2.5, The Whipping Man, Tartuffe, Reunion, Trudy and Max in Love, Ivy+Bean: the Musical, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, How to Write a New Book for the Bible, Sight Unseen, Topdog/Underdog, Sideways Stories from Wayside School, In the Next Room or the vibrator play, Doctor Cerberus, Ordinary Days, Our Mother’s Brief Affair, The Injured Party, The Brand New Kid and Imagine at SCR. Her favorite credits include Dividing the Estate at Dallas Theater Center; La Bohème at Tulsa Opera; The Mystery of Irma Vep at The Old Globe; Daddy Long Legs at Laguna Playhouse; Tosca and La Fille du Régiment at Opera Ontario; Of Mice and Men at Theatre Calgary/CanStage/Neptune Theatre; The Dresser at Manitoba Theatre Centre; Skylight at Tarragon Theatre; To Kill a Mockingbird at Citadel Theatre/Manitoba Theatre Centre/Theatre Calgary; and The Designated Mourner at Tarragon Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Davies also has worked as head theatre representative at the Toronto International Film Festival, Dubai International Film Festival, AFI Fest, TCM Film Festival, Los Angeles Film Festival and as team leader at Sundance.