Enchantment – a multigenre play

Playwright, theatre director, journalist (formerly Deputy Editor, The Hindu, now freelance writer and translator), Dr Gowri Ramnarayan’s work is a rare amalgam of aesthetics and scholarship. As a musician, she was vocal accompanist to the legendary musician MS Subbulakshmi for 16 years.

As inhouse playwright and Artistic Director, JustUs Repertory, Dr Ramnarayan uses modern techniques to evolve theatre performances steeped in Indian culture – always in a global context. Her multi-genre texts with music, dance and the visual arts, explore the weight of historical, political and literary pasts, to represent the complexities of modern life. Her plays have been staged in major Indian cities and national festivals, and toured the US, UK and South Asia.

Her play Dark Horse won two national awards, while Night’s End was selected for dramatized reading by Swedish actors at a playwrights’ conference in Stockholm (2013). Night’s End was also commissioned for a week’s run at Soho Theatre, London (2017). She received the Nataka Choodamani Award for excellence in theatre from Sri Krishna Gana Sabha, Chennai.

Dr Ramnarayan has authored children’s books (Abu’s World, Abu’s World Again) a biography of MS Subbulakshmi (MS & Radha), profiles of iconic Indian artists (Past Forward OUP). Her Dark Horse & Other Plays anthologises her original plays in English.

She has translated two plays of the Marathi playwright Vijay Tendulkar (OUP), and Tamil writer Kalki Krishnamurthy’s Selected Short Stories (Penguin), his novel The Sound of Waves (Hachette India), Kalki Krishnamurthy: His Life and Times (Kalki Biography Project). and his 6 volume magnum opus Ponniyin Selvan (Penguin India).

The Sound of Waves has received the publisher’s award for Best Translation (2023) from The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI).

Ramnarayan has given talks on philosophy, literature, theatre and the performing arts. She has served as Fipresci Jury member at international film festivals in Europe. She is Chairperson, Rukmini Devi Arundale Trust, Senior Associate Editor, Sruti magazine and Adjunct Faculty, Asian College of Journalism, Chennai, India.

Yohan Chacko has been a part of Chennai theatre since 2009, donning diverse roles in over 80 productions, notably as Jean Valjean (Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables), Will Shakespeare (Shakespeare in Love, Marc Newman), Mohammad bin Tughlaq (Tughlaq, Girish Karnad) and Arun Kolatkar (Dark Horse, Gowri Ramnarayan). He has acted in three full length feature films – An Inspector Calls, A Burglar’s Christmas and Vanangaan.

He relishes his role as a singer who also plays several musical instruments and has more than a million views for his parody songs on YouTube (South of India, I am a Malayalee and Land of Lungi).

Yohan is a committee member of The Madras Players – the oldest amateur English theatre society in India, and a Governing Council member of the theatre company Mellow Circle. He also happens to be a dentist and a professor at the Asan Memorial Dental College.

Excerpts from reviews:

The star of the production is unmistakably Yohan Chacko’s King Herod who is depicted as a hedonistic, pompous, bombastic and deeply insecure man with a tormented soul
(The Hindu, Nov 24, 2014)

Yohan, stepping into the shoes of William Shakespeare is both thrilling and daunting, and draws inspiration from the 1998 film Shakespeare in love
(The New Indian Express, Mar 7, 2025)

ACTOR, DANCER (Bharatanatyam & Contemporary), Pilates Instructor

Aarabi started her early training in Bharatnatyam as a child and is a disciple of the Narasimhacharis at Kalasamarpana. She has been a soloist and ensemble member in several dance drama productions and lecdems choreographed and conducted by the Narasimhacharis.

She was introduced to contemporary performance practices in college. After a Masters degree in contemporary performance studies in the UK, Aarabi returned to India to pursue dance full time. She continues to be a dancer in Padmini Chettur’s contemporary dance company and has performed with it in several international venues in Europe. She also choreographs her own work that reflects her preoccupations as a performing artist in today’s world.

Aarabi has been part of JustUs Repertory for almost two decades now and has worked on various productions both as lead actor and as a member of the stage design and tech crew.

Aarabi is also a Pilates and dance technique instructor.

Excerpt from reviews:

The depiction of Urmila, imaginatively interpreted by the playwright (was) well-enacted by Aarabi Veeraraghavan as a talented and intelligent princess.
(Narthaki, 2019)

Bhavya Kumaran is an Indian-American dancer and choreographer specializing in Bharatanatyam, the classical South Indian art form. Praised for her exquisite form (arai-mandi), graceful, fluid movements, and innate sense of rhythm, Bhavya has earned a reputation as one of the most celebrated young dancers of today.

Born and raised in Chicago in a family of performing artists (she is the granddaughter of renowned Tamil stage artist Kalimamani Kathadi Ramamurthy), Bhavya began her Bharatanatyam training at the age of four under the guidance of her mother, Sowmya Kumaran, the founder and artistic director of Nrithya Sangeeth, a school for performing arts. Bhavya’s debut solo performance (Arangetram) took place in Chennai in 2011, after which she has consistently performed both solo and duet pieces alongside her mother at prestigious venues across the United States and India. Her enthusiasm for the art form is evident in every performance, captivating audiences with her infectious energy and dedication. She also receives mentorship from senior dancer and choreographer Lavanya Ananth.

Bhavya’s extensive performance repertoire includes a wide range of roles in Natya Natakams (thematic dance dramas), working with eminent choreographers from both India and the U.S. She herself has choreographed and staged several innovative dance productions that blend tradition with contemporary appeal, creating works that resonate with the younger generation while upholding the core principles of Bharatanatyam.

A recipient of numerous awards and accolades, Bhavya was honored with the Sri M.N. Subramaniam Memorial Prize for Outstanding Dancer at the Madras Music Academy’s Mid-Year Dance Festival (2024) and the Sri Gutty Vasu Memorial Prize for Outstanding Dancer at the Spirit of Youth Dance Festival (2022). In recognition of her contributions to the performing arts, Bhavya has been conferred with titles such as the M.S. Padmanabhan Memorial Award for Upcoming Young Dancer (Brahma Gana Sabha, 2025), Natya Chudar (Kartik Fine Arts, 2022), Yuva Kala Bharathi (Bharat Kalachar, 2017), and Taruni Kala Vipanchee (Vipanchee, 2014) by premier dance organizations in India. She is also the youngest recipient of the Sri Vazhuvoor Ramaiah Pillai Award for Best Dancer at the Cleveland Aradhana Dance Compettion 2012.

Vanshika Surapaneni is a junior at Dublin Jerome High School who began learning Bharatanatyam at age six under Smt. Smitha Magal. Over the years, the art form has become an integral part of her life. She was presented in her Rangapravesham (debut solo performance) in 2025.

In addition to Bharatanatyam, Vanshika has studied viola for six years and piano for ten years, earning multiple distinctions in examinations conducted by the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music, London. She is actively involved in extracurricular activities at the Dublin Jerome High School and has been recognized with the Community Champion Award for her service.