Reena Kapoor

As an army brat, Reena Kapoor grew up all over India, acting in plays throughout school and college but now prefers the writing life. In 2021 Reena was EnActe Arts’ first WEFT (women enact for themselves) playwright-in-residence. She wrote four theatrical pieces which were produced then. Her latest play “The Wife'' was selected for staged reading at EnActe’s New Works Festival in 2023. Reena’s also been a Citizen Historian with The 1947 Partition Archive collecting oral histories from witnesses of India’s Partition, for over a decade. Her poetry, short stories and essays can be found on her blog at https://arrivalsanddepartures.substack.com/. Her work has been published in several literary journals, anthologies and magazines. She holds an undergraduate engineering degree from IIT Delhi and...

As an army brat, Reena Kapoor grew up all over India, acting in plays throughout school and college but now prefers the writing life. In 2021 Reena was EnActe Arts’ first WEFT (women enact for themselves) playwright-in-residence. She wrote four theatrical pieces which were produced then. Her latest play “The Wife'' was selected for staged reading at EnActe’s New Works Festival in 2023. Reena’s also been a Citizen Historian with The 1947 Partition Archive collecting oral histories from witnesses of India’s Partition, for over a decade. Her poetry, short stories and essays can be found on her blog at https://arrivalsanddepartures.substack.com/. Her work has been published in several literary journals, anthologies and magazines. She holds an undergraduate engineering degree from IIT Delhi and a Master’s from Northwestern University. She lives in Silicon Valley with her human family and dog Dishoom!

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Scripts

Art of the Possible

by Reena Kapoor

Cast Size
4—5
Genre
comedy,
drama,
romantic comedy

"Art of the Possible is a one act, comedy-drama in which a young woman in an upper middle-class Indian household, seeking to get out of her still young marriage, proposes an unusual solution to her family and in-laws, hilariously upending their traditional values as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and chaos."
NOTE: Originally developed at EnActe Arts, as their playwright-in-residence in the 2021 WOMEN...

"Art of the Possible is a one act, comedy-drama in which a young woman in an upper middle-class Indian household, seeking to get out of her still young marriage, proposes an unusual solution to her family and in-laws, hilariously upending their traditional values as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery and chaos."
NOTE: Originally developed at EnActe Arts, as their playwright-in-residence in the 2021 WOMEN ENACT FOR THEMSELVES (WEFT) Program.

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Crossings

by Reena Kapoor

Cast Size
3
Genre
drama,
radio drama,
zoom

This is a short 10 minute, one-act, two-scene play in which two strangers—a young Indian woman in her twenties and an older Indian woman meet on a train in northern India. They get talking and the older woman tells the younger one her life story, which discourages the younger one from following a similar path. But is the older woman really a stranger to the younger one?

This is a short 10 minute, one-act, two-scene play in which two strangers—a young Indian woman in her twenties and an older Indian woman meet on a train in northern India. They get talking and the older woman tells the younger one her life story, which discourages the younger one from following a similar path. But is the older woman really a stranger to the younger one?

The Wife (working title aka "A Minority Model")

by Reena Kapoor

Cast Size
7—8
Genre
drama

This play explores the themes of identity, culture, and self-discovery. It traces the internal journey of an Indian housewife of a Venture Capitalist in Silicon Valley who has everything: a decent and ambitious husband, good kids, and an affluent life. Except that somewhere along the way she has forgotten what fulfills her as an individual. When an attractive neighbor arrives next door and his friendship makes...

This play explores the themes of identity, culture, and self-discovery. It traces the internal journey of an Indian housewife of a Venture Capitalist in Silicon Valley who has everything: a decent and ambitious husband, good kids, and an affluent life. Except that somewhere along the way she has forgotten what fulfills her as an individual. When an attractive neighbor arrives next door and his friendship makes her feel truly “seen”, she’s awakened to her own needs. Her attraction to the neighbor is further complicated by their differing ethnic and racial backgrounds. As the story progresses she’s forced to confront her own desires along with her own awakening. The play also poses a question to the audience: Does the smallest minority — the individual — within the "model minority" matter? What if the individual wants something quite different than what’s expected of her?

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