Madhuri Shekar

Madhuri Shekar

Madhuri Shekar (she/her) is a playwright based in Jersey City. She is the 2020 winner of the Lanford Wilson playwriting award, an alumnus of the Juilliard Playwrights Program and a fellow at New Dramatists. Her Audible audio play EVIL EYE won a 2020 Audie Award for best original work. Her plays have been produced or developed at the Alliance Theatre, Victory Gardens, California Shakespeare Theater, the Center...
Madhuri Shekar (she/her) is a playwright based in Jersey City. She is the 2020 winner of the Lanford Wilson playwriting award, an alumnus of the Juilliard Playwrights Program and a fellow at New Dramatists. Her Audible audio play EVIL EYE won a 2020 Audie Award for best original work. Her plays have been produced or developed at the Alliance Theatre, Victory Gardens, California Shakespeare Theater, the Center Theatre Group, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Kennedy Center, Hedgebrook Playwrights' Festival, and the Old Globe.

She co-created the web mini-series 'Titus and Dronicus': www.titusanddronicus.com. In TV and film, she wrote the feature adaptation of her play 'Evil Eye', now streaming on Amazon Prime. She wrote for the TV show THE NEVERS on HBOMax and is a writer on the upcoming Netflix sci-fi epic THREE BODY PROBLEM.

Plays

  • Queen by Madhuri Shekar
    Recommendations: 12
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: science, women + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, political
    Keyword: science, women, bees, math, Indian, female friendship, Academia, climate change
    PhD candidates Sanam and Ariel have spent the better part of the last decade exhaustively researching vanishing bee populations across the globe. Just as these close friends are about to publish a career-defining paper, Sanam stumbles upon an error in their calculations, which could cause catastrophic damage to their reputations, careers, and friendship. Now, Sanam is confronted with an impossible choice: look...
    PhD candidates Sanam and Ariel have spent the better part of the last decade exhaustively researching vanishing bee populations across the globe. Just as these close friends are about to publish a career-defining paper, Sanam stumbles upon an error in their calculations, which could cause catastrophic damage to their reputations, careers, and friendship. Now, Sanam is confronted with an impossible choice: look the other way or stand by her principles and accept the consequences?

    WINNER: 2019 New York Innovative Theatre Awards, Outstanding Original Full Length Script
  • House of Joy (NEW VERSION - 2022) by Madhuri Shekar
    Recommendations: 9
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    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: adventure, drama + 5 more
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    Keyword: History, India + 5 more
    Genre: adventure, drama, fable/folktale, fantasy, melodrama, movement/physical, period
    Keyword: History, India, harem, stage combat, queer, historical fiction, Adventure/Fantasy
    (If you've read and liked this play before, or seen it on stage before 2022, thank you so much! I've done a big rewrite with new versions of the characters and a new story - here is the updated draft that premiered at St. Louis Rep in August 2022.)

    At first glance, the House of Joy is a dazzling utopia. But when a new guard joins the emperor’s army, she discovers it’s more prison than...
    (If you've read and liked this play before, or seen it on stage before 2022, thank you so much! I've done a big rewrite with new versions of the characters and a new story - here is the updated draft that premiered at St. Louis Rep in August 2022.)

    At first glance, the House of Joy is a dazzling utopia. But when a new guard joins the emperor’s army, she discovers it’s more prison than paradise. This genre-busting adventure fantasy is filled with stunning locales, electrifying combat, steamy romance and queer femme power in all its forms.
  • Antigone, presented by the girls of St. Catherine's by Madhuri Shekar
    Recommendations: 38
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    Cast: 
    7
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    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy + 2 more
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    Keyword: teenagers, high school + 7 more
    Genre: adaptation, dark comedy, drama, young audiences
    Keyword: teenagers, high school, Antigone, school teacher, boarding school, ensemble, prep school, women, girls
    The St. Catherine's drama club is struggling to put up its first school play—Sophocles' Antigone. As if staging this tragedy in an all girls’ Catholic school isn’t challenging enough, the cast’s beloved director ends up betraying them in an unforgivable way. And it’s almost opening night! The actors must figure out the right course of action, all while rehearsing the classic play about impossibly...
    The St. Catherine's drama club is struggling to put up its first school play—Sophocles' Antigone. As if staging this tragedy in an all girls’ Catholic school isn’t challenging enough, the cast’s beloved director ends up betraying them in an unforgivable way. And it’s almost opening night! The actors must figure out the right course of action, all while rehearsing the classic play about impossibly difficult choices. What is the right thing to do? And must the show go on?

    Commissioned by the Alliance Theatre for their Teen Ensemble program, premiered at the Alliance Hertz Stage in April, 2015.
  • A Nice Indian Boy by Madhuri Shekar
    Recommendations: 8
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: comedy, drama + 1 more
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    Keyword: Indian, LGBTQ + 6 more
    Genre: comedy, drama, romantic comedy
    Keyword: Indian, LGBTQ, gay marriage, South Asia, Immigrants, multi-generational, family, bollywood
    Naveen Gavaskar just wants a traditional Hindu marriage to a nice Indian... boy. While his parents are trying to wrap their heads around this strange idea, his older sister returns home and drops a bombshell of her own. A comedy about love and marriage today- gay or straight, arranged or not.
  • In Love and Warcraft by Madhuri Shekar
    Recommendations: 1
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    Cast: 
    6
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    Genre: comedy, fantasy + 1 more
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    Keyword: gaming, sexuality + 3 more
    Genre: comedy, fantasy, romantic comedy
    Keyword: gaming, sexuality, world of warcraft, college, coming of age
    2013/14 Winner: Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Award

    Evie Malone- gamer girl, college senior and confirmed virgin- has it all figured out. Not only does she command a top-ranked guild in Warcraft with her online boyfriend, she also makes a little cash on the side writing love letters for people who've screwed up their relationships. Love is like Warcraft, after all. It's all about...
    2013/14 Winner: Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Award

    Evie Malone- gamer girl, college senior and confirmed virgin- has it all figured out. Not only does she command a top-ranked guild in Warcraft with her online boyfriend, she also makes a little cash on the side writing love letters for people who've screwed up their relationships. Love is like Warcraft, after all. It's all about strategies, game plans, and not taking stupid risks.

    Well, that's what she thinks... until she actually falls for a guy. In Real Life. And no amount of gaming expertise will help her out when she finds herself with a non-virtual, totally real, and incredibly cute boyfriend, who wants more from her than she's willing to give.
  • The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Madhuri Shekar
    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: musical, young audiences
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    Keyword: TYA Musical, children and family musical
    Genre: musical, young audiences
    Keyword: TYA Musical, children and family musical
    Book by Madhuri Shekar
    Music by Christian Magby
    Lyrics by Christian Albright 
    Inspired by the book 'The Incredible Book Eating Boy' by Oliver Jeffers

    Henry loves books.  But he hates reading them. Because books are so full of... words! Annoying, complicated, indecipherable words! Then one day he discovers the most amazing alternative to reading - eating the...
    Book by Madhuri Shekar
    Music by Christian Magby
    Lyrics by Christian Albright 
    Inspired by the book 'The Incredible Book Eating Boy' by Oliver Jeffers

    Henry loves books.  But he hates reading them. Because books are so full of... words! Annoying, complicated, indecipherable words! Then one day he discovers the most amazing alternative to reading - eating the books whole. By chowing down, chomping, and literally digesting the contents of whole libraries, Henry gets smarter, and smarter and smarter... until his tummy doesn't feel so good. A story about literally biting off more than you can chew, this new musical celebrates the joy of reading and the insatiable appetite for knowledge.  Inspired by award-winning children's book author Oliver Jeffers' hilarious book, The Incredible Book Eating Boy  promises to leave you full!
  • Evil Eye by Madhuri Shekar
    Recommendations: 2
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    Cast: 
    5
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    Genre: dark comedy, drama + 4 more
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    Keyword: South Asia, audio play + 1 more
    Genre: dark comedy, drama, experimental, horror, mystery/thriller, radio drama
    Keyword: South Asia, audio play, religion
    EVIL EYE is an Audible Theater Emerging Playwrights Commission:

    Pallavi is an aspiring writer living in California. Her mother, Usha, is thousands of miles away in Delhi - and obsessed with finding her daughter a husband.

    Hilarious back-and-forth phone calls take a shocking, supernatural twist when Pallavi meets the perfect man - leading to a climactic showdown that will leave...
    EVIL EYE is an Audible Theater Emerging Playwrights Commission:

    Pallavi is an aspiring writer living in California. Her mother, Usha, is thousands of miles away in Delhi - and obsessed with finding her daughter a husband.

    Hilarious back-and-forth phone calls take a shocking, supernatural twist when Pallavi meets the perfect man - leading to a climactic showdown that will leave listeners on the edges of their seats.
  • Monkey Love by Madhuri Shekar
    Recommendations: 3
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    Cast: 
    4
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    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy
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    Keyword: India, animal anthropomorphism
    Genre: comedy, romantic comedy
    Keyword: India, animal anthropomorphism
    Deep in the forests of Assam, India, a human couple falls out of love, while a monkey couple falls in love. It's silly, folks. But fun.