BIO

Mekala currently lives in San Diego, and is passionate about directing, writing, arts administration, and theatre education. In the past, she has worked for a wide range of theatre companies in San Diego, like North Coast Repertory Theatre, Coronado Playhouse, The Old Globe, and La Jolla Playhouse. She recently assistant directed for La Jolla Playhouse’s production of Light Years Away, and is currently the tour manager and a fellow for Blindspot Collective, a teaching artist for San Diego Junior Theatre, and artist coordinator for The Midwives. Mekala graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 2018 with a B.A. in theatre, literature, and psychology.

INSPIRED BY

fairytales / myths / magical realism / Naomi Iizuka / PigPen Theatre Company / Reetika Vazirani / Shailja Patel / Shakespeare / Symbolism / Yael Farber / Yury Butusov

The Archaeology of Nostalgia is a written collage of old maps, jasmine buds, suitcases, faded photographs, paintings, the Ajanta caves, chai, and my grandmother’s and my mother’s and my India and America. This piece is based on Amrita Sher-Gil’s life and works, mixed in with personal and familial stories, memories, and imaginings.

Created by collaborators Claribel Gross (Olympia, WA), Mekala Sridhar (San Diego, CA), and Emily Ritger (Chicago, IL). Inspired by Isabel Allende’s The Stories of Eva Luna, the piece is an irrational response to Allende and her characters. It is a myth, a collage, a reconstruction of women on the edges. Combining the fictional world with snapshots of the current news stream, the piece explores the limits of storytelling through a wide-range of theatrical devices, and seeks to expand what an ensemble-generated piece can be when created beyond the limits of location.