Navigating Power: From Mahabharata to the Workplace

Описание: What happens when an epic Hindu poem collides with modern workplace bias?

Tickets to Sharanya's next production in Austin, "Anklets in the boardroom:" https://tickets.atxtheatre.org/events...

Artistic-director Sharanya Rao joins Kirk to trace three big chapters of her journey: consulting on Mahabharata Tales for Austin Shakespeare, founding Leela Indian Community Theatre, and creating Anklets in the Boardroom, a Theatre of the Oppressed production where spectators jump onstage to rewrite real discrimination scenarios. https://www.leelatheatre.org/

In this conversation:

Cutting the Mahabharata down to a 2-hour stage piece (and the “must-have” scenes)

Why Austin needed a South-Asian community stage—and how Leela was born in 2012

Theatre of the Oppressed 101: “spect-actors,” no spectators

How story circles turn real workplace stories into live scripts

The power of name-pronunciation, audience agency, and non-violent rehearsal

May 16-18 performances of Anklets in the Boardroom at Austin PBS

00:00 Intro – Meeting Sharanya Rao
02:00 Trimming the Mahabharata: key “must-have” scenes
07:40 Why epic poetry still hits home today
10:50 Oral tradition & Sharanya’s consultant role
14:30 Coaching meets theatre: linking two careers
18:45 Live energy vs film: a Julius Caesar example
22:15 Founding Leela Indian Community Theatre (2012)
25:45 Creativity after COVID—reviving the troupe
29:10 South-Asian stories on stage (House of India & more)
32:45 Theatre of the Oppressed 101
35:30 How Forum Theatre works: “spect-actors,” not spectators
39:55 Audience agency & building muscle memory for change
45:00 Coaching tools applied onstage
48:50 Non-violent resistance rules for the show
51:25 Creating Anklets in the Boardroom
54:30 From story circles to finished script
57:55 Every performance is unique—examples of interventions
1:02:20 Real-world impact: names, raises, confidence
1:06:55 Show details & ticket info (May 16-18, Austin PBS)
1:10:40 Final thoughts on theatre’s purpose
1:14:15 Anklet symbolism & sign-off