Deepa Purohit

Deepa Purohit

Deepa Purohit made her Off- Broadway debut at The Atlantic Theater Company in New York City with the World Premiere of her play, Elyria in February/March 2023. She is a 2022-23 New Georges “Audrey” Resident. She joined Ma-Yi Writers Lab in 2014 and is now a Legacy Labbie. She received her MFA in Playwriting at Brooklyn College in 2020.

Deepa co-founded and ran Rising Circle Theater...
Deepa Purohit made her Off- Broadway debut at The Atlantic Theater Company in New York City with the World Premiere of her play, Elyria in February/March 2023. She is a 2022-23 New Georges “Audrey” Resident. She joined Ma-Yi Writers Lab in 2014 and is now a Legacy Labbie. She received her MFA in Playwriting at Brooklyn College in 2020.

Deepa co-founded and ran Rising Circle Theater Collective for 12 years (2000-2012), overseeing the development of over 20 plays by playwrights of color. She’s a trained actor, has a Master’s in Public Health from Columbia University, and a BA in History/African Studies from Northwestern University. Born in the UK, with familial roots in Ohio, East Africa, and India, she lives in NYC with her husband and son.

She’s written nine plays including Elyria and co-written an additional four plays with Sanjit De Silva. She’s working on a performance installation piece called M xx/perience, an audio play w/De Silva, called Crushed Earth, and adopting her play Elyria into a TV series.

Full Length Plays: Elyria: Feb-March 2023 Off Broadway World Premiere (The Atlantic Theater Company, NYC) 2018 NEA ArtWorks Grant & 2018 Jerome Foundation Grant for play development w/Ma-Yi Theater Company. 2018 SPACE on Ryder Farm Creative Residency. M xx/perience: New Georges Audrey Residency (2022).
The In Between: A Love Story developed in part w/NAATCO (2019-2021).
The Wake: 2017 Ma-Yi Writers Lab/Andrew W. Mellon Creative Fellowship Residency at the University of Washington. A Valentine: 2017 Kilroys Honorable Mention. Have Sari. Will Travel!: Rising Circle’s 2017 Refinery Workshop Production, 2016 Lilly Awards Foundation Family Residency at SPACE on Ryder Farm. Flight: Rising Circle Theater Collective’s 2011 InkTANK PlayLab. Short Form Plays: Mothering: A collection of 11 short works for performance (2022). LotusMart, Ohio (Desipina Productions 2003), Exiled (2001).

Co-writing w/Sanjit De Silva: Crushed Earth (2022-23) Audio Play Production: People’s Light Theatre. 2017 New Play Frontiers Residency Commission at People’s Light Theatre. Grace (2010), The American Family Project (2007), Pulling the Lever (Plays and Playwrights 2006).