GREATER THAN

Written & Directed by Basab Pradhan

Sunnyvale Theatre, 550 E Remington Dr, Sunnyvale

Nov 30 to Dec 8

Concentric Ventures is a leading Venture Capital firm in Silicon Valley. Jennifer Johnson, the Founder CEO of Blended Health, a startup, is pitching her company to Concentric for an investment. Ash Williams, a General Partner at Concentric is pulled into Jennifer’s pitch meeting for a second opinion. Ash maneuvers Jennifer into coming to his apartment later under the pretext of discussing the investment. What happens that evening in Ash’s apartment sets off a chain of events that could end Ash’s career and bring the entire firm down with him. Will Jennifer's accusations of sexual harassment stick? Will Concentric disavow Ash? Or will the technology industry’s status quo of male dominance and bro culture prevail? 

In the age of #MeToo, the greatest cultural shift in a generation, Greater Than explores power and gender politics in Silicon Valley.

Video

Photos

Sindu Singh (ROMA)

Sindu Singh recently directed Vijay Tendulkar's Kanyadaan, Rahul Varma's Counter Offence, Girish Karnad's Wedding Album and Mahesh Dattani's Dance Like a Man. She has essayed multiple roles with various Bay Area theatre companies. Favorites include Malini in Anupama Chandrasekhar’s Free Outgoing, Naina in Basab Pradhan's adaptation of Ibsen's A Doll's House, Damyanti in Mahesh Elkunchwar's Party, Bagheera in Harish Agastya's Mowgli and I, Sarita in Vijay Tendulkar's Kamla, and Hamida Begum in Asghar Wajahat's Jis Lahore Nahin Vekhya O Jammyai Nahin. She founded 'Rangmanch', a South Asian theater group for the Stanford University community, and for its maiden outing, directed Yoni ki Baat, the South Asian version of Eve Ensler's Vagina Monologues.

Sindu is Founder and Co-Artistic Director of Bay Area Drama Company.

Brian Levi (ASH)

Brian Levi is pleased to be in BAD Company for the first time. Recently in Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike at the Altarena Playhouse, SF Shakespeare Festival’s Hamlet (Claudius), A View from the Bridge (Alfieri) at the Pear and PCSF’s Playoffs 2017 at The Exit, Brian has performed all over the Bay Area. Favorite roles are To Kill a Mockingbird (Atticus), All My Sons (Chris), The Fantasticks (El Gallo), The Diary of Anne Frank (Otto), A Streetcar Named Desire (Mitch), The Three Sisters (Vershinin), The Birthday Party (McCann), Deathtrap (Sidney), Noises Off (Lloyd), Crossing Delancey (Sam) and Benefactors (David). Brian is a long-time TBA member and recipient of a 2016 TBA Ensemble Award (PCSF Sheherezade’s Last Tales), 2017 Ensemble Nomination (PCSF Playoffs) and 2015 Ensemble Nomination (Pear Slices). www.facebook.com/brian.levi.actor

Sarah Williams (JENNIFER)

Sarah Williams is delighted to be working for the first time with Bay Area Drama Company. Her recent credits include As You Like It and On The Twentieth Century with the Davis Shakespeare Fesitval, and Romeo and Juliet with the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. She holds a BA in Theatre Performance from San Diego State University (SDSU) and a certificate from from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Paul Costello (JEREMY)

This is Paul's third outing with Bay Area Drama Company after Bhopal and Counter Offence. This past summer he completed a short film that is in post-production. A communications executive by profession, Paul has been acting since he was a young child in his native Chicago. He follows in the footsteps of his father who was a stage and commercial actor. When he's not acting or working, he can be found in a swimming pool doing laps or on his bike cycling around the Bay Area. He and his wife, journalist Rita Beamish, live in San Mateo. They have two daughters, Kelly and Kira.

Rita Bhatia (SUMITRA)

Rita Bhatia, a lifelong avid theatre enthusiast, recently essayed the role of Dolon in Bay Area Drama Company's production of Mahesh Elkunchwar’s Sonata. Rita made her theatre debut last December with BAD Company as Priya Singh in Not Equal To. She has also been part of the production team of Free Outgoing and Kanyadaan.

Ed Keyani (GREG)

Edward Keyani is a Meisner Technique-trained actor. Already in his brief career he has had principal roles in short and feature length films, commercials and films for television.

After being an elementary school teacher for almost 20 years, he finally listened to his heart, found the courage and enrolled in an acting class. He hasn’t looked back since. He says “I am the personification of the expression - you always get a do-over!”

In his spare time, Ed loves to be with his children, play the piano, write, take improv classes, and stays fit by playing tennis.

Writer & Director

Basab Pradhan

Basab Pradhan is a stage actor, director and playwright. For Bay Area Drama Company he has directed Sonata by Mahesh Elkunchwar, Free Outgoing by Anupama Chandrasekhar and his own adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. In 2017 Basab wrote and directed his first original play Not Equal To.

Basab is Founder & Co-Artistic Director of Bay Area Drama Company. 

Stage Manager

Michelle Marko

After Not Equal To, Michelle is excited to be back with BAD Company for Greater Than. 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 Compleate 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."

When not backstage, Michelle can be found in the online advertising world at Adobe. 

Season Sponsor

Contributors

Tavant Technologies 
Two Six Capital 
Dhiren Unadkat, Loans & Real Estate, 408-483-8033

With thanks to our publicity sponsors Institute for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley and Center for South Asia Studies, Stanford University.