Gursimrat Kaur

Gursimrat is a playwright and screenwriter whose work grapples with questions of identity in our modern society and dissects subjects of faith, doubt, and cross-cultural human connection. Select works include Radiance, At the Battlefront, Julia, Of the Celestial Bodies, and a modern retelling of a prominent 16th century Punjabi folklore Mirza-Sahiba. Her plays have been developed at the Curious Theatre Branch, The Playwrights’ Center, MOXIE Theatre, Hedgebrook Playwrights Residency, Sewanee Writers Conference, New York Classical Theatre, Wild Imagining Theatre, HBMG Foundation, and Monson Arts among others. She is the recipient of The Allan Havis Playwriting Award (UC San Diego) and Award of Merit for Individual Screenwriting (Southern Shorts) and has been a finalist for the Jane Chambers...

Gursimrat is a playwright and screenwriter whose work grapples with questions of identity in our modern society and dissects subjects of faith, doubt, and cross-cultural human connection. Select works include Radiance, At the Battlefront, Julia, Of the Celestial Bodies, and a modern retelling of a prominent 16th century Punjabi folklore Mirza-Sahiba. Her plays have been developed at the Curious Theatre Branch, The Playwrights’ Center, MOXIE Theatre, Hedgebrook Playwrights Residency, Sewanee Writers Conference, New York Classical Theatre, Wild Imagining Theatre, HBMG Foundation, and Monson Arts among others. She is the recipient of The Allan Havis Playwriting Award (UC San Diego) and Award of Merit for Individual Screenwriting (Southern Shorts) and has been a finalist for the Jane Chambers Award, ScreenCraft Stage Play Competition, and the Jerome and Many Voices fellowships at The Playwrights’ Center. She was also the 2019-2020 Core Apprentice at The Playwrights' Center. She's a recent graduate of The University of Texas at Austin's MFA Playwriting program where she was a James A. Michener Fellow. Gursimrat is currently an American Woman Fellow at Dramatic Question Theatre and working as an apprentice at The Playwrights' Center.

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Scripts

Against The Order

by Gursimrat Kaur

Cast Size
6
Genre
adaptation,
drama,
faith-based,
mystery/thriller,
political,
tragedy

After Ameena’s brother mysteriously dies in an encounter with the law enforcement, she is determined to unveil the truth and bring him to justice even if it means rebelling against the establishment led by the newly elected mayor, Karim. What is she fighting for? How far can she go? Reimagined with a South Asian cast, this adaptation of Sophocles' classic, Antigone, focuses on the relationship between divine and...

After Ameena’s brother mysteriously dies in an encounter with the law enforcement, she is determined to unveil the truth and bring him to justice even if it means rebelling against the establishment led by the newly elected mayor, Karim. What is she fighting for? How far can she go? Reimagined with a South Asian cast, this adaptation of Sophocles' classic, Antigone, focuses on the relationship between divine and state law; asking how one lives in a world that is unfair and unforgiving.

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Of The Celestial Bodies

by Gursimrat Kaur

Cast Size
6
Genre
fable/folktale,
faith-based,
fantasy,
mystery/thriller

As a struggling actress waiting tables at an Indian Restaurant in Queens, New York, Tara can't quite recall what transpired on an exquisite night at the bus stop outside her work. Of The Celestial Bodies is a meditation on the immortal days of our lives, days in which time stands still and we feel the grip of eternal mysteries.

As a struggling actress waiting tables at an Indian Restaurant in Queens, New York, Tara can't quite recall what transpired on an exquisite night at the bus stop outside her work. Of The Celestial Bodies is a meditation on the immortal days of our lives, days in which time stands still and we feel the grip of eternal mysteries.

Mirza-Sahiba

by Gursimrat Kaur

Cast Size
5
Genre
adaptation,
drama,
faith-based

Sanya and Pravin are well assimilated into the American society, yet their conscious is guided by the same desires that their 17th century counterparts, Mirza and Sahiba were fueled by in the small village of Khewa, Punjab. With the use of heavy magical realism mixed with reality that is out of their grasp, we follow these two characters as they try to make coherent sense of the fractured world around them and...

Sanya and Pravin are well assimilated into the American society, yet their conscious is guided by the same desires that their 17th century counterparts, Mirza and Sahiba were fueled by in the small village of Khewa, Punjab. With the use of heavy magical realism mixed with reality that is out of their grasp, we follow these two characters as they try to make coherent sense of the fractured world around them and try to find each other with the same passion their ancestors did 300 years ago.

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At The Battlefront

by Gursimrat Kaur

Cast Size
6—12
Genre
adventure,
docudrama/historic,
drama,
political

It has been named one of the fastest-growing refugee crises in the world — and yet not everyone is aware of what, exactly, is happening to the Rohingya people in Rakhine, Myanmar. At the Battlefront follows Riya Ahuja, an elite American lawyer, who leaves behind her privileged life to take on the task of conducting a survey which might just save Rakhine from complete demolition.

It has been named one of the fastest-growing refugee crises in the world — and yet not everyone is aware of what, exactly, is happening to the Rohingya people in Rakhine, Myanmar. At the Battlefront follows Riya Ahuja, an elite American lawyer, who leaves behind her privileged life to take on the task of conducting a survey which might just save Rakhine from complete demolition.

Radiance

by Gursimrat Kaur

Cast Size
9
Genre
drama,
tragedy

Set in a growing metropolitan city in the midst of an economic transition, Radiance follows the story of a few individuals who want more from the city than it promises to give them: Aria, a sex worker, orchestrates an escape from her gruesome life in an elite brothel while Dina, a disabled young woman with an overly protective sister rebels for love that will open her world beyond an isolated bedroom in the...

Set in a growing metropolitan city in the midst of an economic transition, Radiance follows the story of a few individuals who want more from the city than it promises to give them: Aria, a sex worker, orchestrates an escape from her gruesome life in an elite brothel while Dina, a disabled young woman with an overly protective sister rebels for love that will open her world beyond an isolated bedroom in the middle of suburban wasteland. As Stanley, an aspiring young entrepreneur, arrives in the city to climb the ladder of booming textile industry, we witness the consequences of economic progression on inequity of gender roles in a developing society.

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