Cast

Director

Rita Bhatia

Rita Bhatia is a story-teller,  actor, director, producer, singer and playwright. After the pandemic restrictions were lifted and theatre returned, she produced and stage managed The Square Root of a Sonnet and directed Name, Place Animal, Thing both for BADCo.

Among her many roles on stage, her favorites are Gupta Madam in Ajay Shukla’s Taj Mahal Ka Tender, Dolly in Girish Karnad’s Boiled Beans on Toast, Kamini in Basab Pradhan’s Divided By, Priya Singh in Not Equal To and Dolon in Mahesh Elkunchwar’s Sonata. 

During the pandemic, Rita adapted, produced and directed several online staged productions, some of her favorites being, Alipha, Forever, Mumbai Beats, Bobby & Bobbi, Chuckle with Chekhov and No Make-Up.

As playwright, Rita has written, directed and produced two short plays Chameli and Bhavna & Bhuvan. 

Rita is Executive Director of Bay Area Drama Company.

Stage Manager

Michelle Sams

After Not Equal To and Greater Than, Divided By, The Cherry Orchard and Adhe Adhure, Michelle is excited to be back with BADCo for Where Did I Leave My Purdah? She has worked at various theatres in the Bay Area over the last 20 years. Most recently at City Lights Theater Company with such favorites as Alabama Story, Ideation, Elephant Man, Amadeus, Dead Man Walking, and Compleat Female Stage Beauty. Other favorite productions around the south bay include Matthew Briar and the Age of Resurrection (Epic Immersive),  A Midsumer Night's Dream (Silicon Valley Shakespeare), Carmen (Opera San Jose), and On the Verge (Bus Barn Stage Co.). Michelle has an MBA from University of Phoenix, and a BA in Technical Theatre from U.C. Santa Barbara, and is the author of "A Stage Manager's Survival Guide: From Callbacks to Closing."

Michelle is the Production Manager for Bay Area Drama Company. When not backstage, Michelle can be found in the online advertising world at Adobe.