Ankita Raturi (she/her) is currently a Queens-based writer and teaching artist who grew up in capital cities, pediatric gastroenterology offices, and the bisexual closet. She writes hyper-theatrical works in English, Hindi/Urdu, and sometimes Bahasa Indonesia about living between cultural identities and contending with the ongoing legacies of colonization. 2024 Winner of the Los Angeles New Play Project Award. 2022 Winner of the Bret Adams and Paul Reisch Foundation’s Ollie Award. New play development: Theater Mu, Playwrights’ Center, New York Theatre Workshop, Roundabout, Ma-Yi Theater Company, South Coast Repertory, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Playwrights Realm, Berkshire Theatre Group, Cygnet Theatre, Artists at Play, The COOP, Atlantic Pacific Theatre, Theater Masters, Hypokrit Theatre Company, New York Shakespeare Exchange, Pete’s Candy Store, Natyabharati, Wesleyan University. Devised work with Charlotte Murray: Fresh Ground Pepper, Corkscrew Theater Festival, Dixon Place. Teaching artist with CUNY’s Creative Arts Team and Lincoln Center Theater's LEAD Project. B.F.A. in Drama: NYU/Tisch. M.F.A. in Playwriting: UC San Diego. Third-year Kathak student: Maeri Dance.

Manisha Advani (she/her) was born in Mumbai, India, and raised in Pune. A computer engineer by training, Manisha has spent nearly three decades building a career at the intersection of technology and the arts, working at companies including Microsoft since relocating to the Greater Seattle area in 1995.

A certified Kathak dancer and theater artist, Manisha has performed with Seattle-area theater groups Xperiments and Pratidhwani, with credits including Hasmukh Bhai Ki Wasiyat and Between the Lines. She also appears as an on-camera actor in corporate training videos and commercials for Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks, Philips, and Vivo. After becoming a mother, she stepped back from her tech career to found Liveanklets, Seattle's first Kathak dance school, bringing this North Indian classical dance form to students of all ages.

Manisha is deeply committed to education, health, and the performing arts in her community, having served on the boards of numerous local nonprofits, including Pratham Seattle, the Bellevue Schools Foundation, and the Meany Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Washington. She is delighted to bring Neha to life in this production of Neha and Neel.

Coming soon.

Born and raised in India, Varun spent over a decade doing theater there before continuing his craft in Seattle. He’s delighted to return to Seattle Public Theater for his third outing, this time as Arnav and Avatars in Neha and Neel. He’s drawn to stories that let people feel, especially those that build empathy for worlds alien to their own. Recent credits include Ballad of the Unfallen (Distillery reading at Seattle Public Theater), And Then There Were None, the Miss Holmes series (Centerstage), and Guards at the Taj (ArtsWest/Pratidhwani). Off stage, Varun is chasing consistency at CrossFit, reading biographies, dialing in his coffee grind size and water ratios, or walking Green Lake with his wife. He’s endlessly grateful to Jyothi, his toughest critic and biggest supporter, and to Seattle’s theatre community for making this city feel like home.

Agastya is a Seattle area based actor, director and producer. He has led the Drama Wing of Pratidhwani since 2005, and has directed and produced many shows in Hindi and English for Pratidhwani. Directorial credits include Yoga Play by Dipika Guha (2026) at As If Theatre, Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith by Yusef El Guindi (2024) at CenterStage Theatre, House of Joy by Madhuri Shekar (2025), Washer/Dryer by Nandita Shenoy (2019), Queen, also by Madhuri Shekar (2018), Dance Like a Man by Mahesh Dattani (2015), and I and You by Lauren Gunderson (2018), all for Pratidhwani. He has also directed for Penguin Productions, 14/48 Projects, Live Girls! Theater, Infinity Box and SIS Productions. Acting credits include Not/Our Town at Pony World Theater, Mandala of Sherlock Holmes (audio play) and Brothers K at Book-it Rep, Happiest Song Plays Last at Theatre22, and Money & Run at Theater Schmeater. By day, Agastya works as a Telecom Engineer for the second largest wireless service provider in the US.