SUNDERELLA (2023)
Written by: Kunal Mirchandani
Produced and Developed by: Bali Padda, Kunal Mirchandani & Zeenat Parveen
Director: Bali Padda
Choreographer: Zeenat Parveen
Venue Partner: Monkey Baa via the ARA Darling Quarter Theatre
Audio Production: Loud & Clear Audio
Costume Partner: Swastik Institute of Dance
Special thanks to ACON Health, National Theatre of Parramatta and Opera Australia
PRESENTED BY TRIKONE AUSTRALIA AND BALI PADDA IN ASSOCIATION WITH SYDNEY WORLDPRIDE
After a sold-out season at the 2017 Sydney Mardi Gras Festival, Sunderella is back to dazzle audiences - this time at the ARA Darling Quater Theatre for WorldPride Arts, part of the Sydney WorldPride festival. Set in 18th-century British India, Sunderella features a cast of 17 performers, in splendid costumes and jewels. The story follows Sundar, a pious and sweet-natured young man living with his evil stepmother and two self-centred stepsisters. But as the timeless fairytale goes, Sundar’s fortunes change when a celestial force “stirs the pot”, transforms him into a gorgeous woman called Sunderella and sends her prancing to the prince’s palace. There are dramatic scenes and sweeping dance sequences, comic characters and foot-tapping music. But at the end of the day, Sunderella is a heartrending story of love and acceptance.
2017 SEASON - Mardi Gras Festival 2017 @ PACT Erskineville
Produced and Developed By: Kunal Mirchandani, Bali Padda, Zeenat Parveen
Director: Bali Padda
Choreographer: Zeenat Parveen
LIGHTEN UP (2016)
Written by Nicholas Brown and Sam McCool
Presented by Bali Padda and Griffin Theatre Company
Producers: Bali Padda and Estelle Conley (Griffin)
Director: Shane Anthony
In Australia, we like ’em blonde and bronzed. In India, it’s ‘fair and lovely’. So what happens if you’re stuck in between?
John Green is an Anglo-Indian Australian actor who dreams of being cast in his favourite TV soap, Bondi Parade. The problem is, his coloured contacts can’t hide the fact that his skin is more brown than white.
Meanwhile, his skin-bleached mum is determined for him to procreate with a blonde, white Aussie woman in order to rid the family of any sign of their ethnic heritage. All hell breaks loose when John falls in love with an Indigenous woman called Sandy.
This very funny play by actor (and Bollywood leading-man) Nicholas Brown and comedian Sam McCool tells a universal tale of identity, cultural assimilation and bleaching your bits.
Play published by Bali Padda & Currency Press. Available for purchase at https://www.currency.com.au/books/cald-writer/lighten-up/
IN THE SPACE BETWEEN (2011)
Written by Kunal Mirchandani, Zeenat Parveen, Sameer Malik & Prasanna Pichai
Presented by Trikone Australia for Sydney Mardi Gras 2011
Producers: Kunal Mirchandani, Bali Padda, Zeenat Parveen
Director: Kunal Mirchandani
Choreographer: Zeenat Parveen
A sequin-studded, queer, drag, Bollywood stage spectacular – the most unique event and the highlight of the 2011 Mardi Gras festival. A night of foot-tapping music, sweeping dances and vivid drama from this cast of South Asian LGBTQIA+ community members in dazzling costumes.