Described as one of India's best and most serious contemporary playwrights writing in English, Mahesh Dattani is the first playwright in English to be awarded the Sahitya Akademi award. He received his early education at Baldwin's High School and then went on to join St. Joseph's College of Fine Arts and Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka. In 1984 he founded his playgroup 'Playpen' and in 1986 he wrote his first play 'Where There's A Will'. Since then he has written many plays such as Tara, Night Queen, Final Solutions and Dance Like A Man. Apart from theater Mahesh Dattani is also active in the field of film making. He teaches theater courses at the summer session programmes of the Portland University, Oregon, USA. He also imparts training in the field of acting, directing and play writing at his own theater studio in Bangalore. 

Agastya is a Seattle based actor, director and producer. He has been leading the Drama Wing of Pratidhwani - a local South Asian performing arts organization - since 2005 and has directed and produced many shows in Hindi and English for Pratidhwani. He holds a certificate in Directing for Stage and Screen from University of Washington, and in addition to Pratidhwani, he has directed locally for 14/48, Live Girls! Theater, Infinity Box and SIS Productions, and has served as Assistant Director for ReAct Theatre. A Telecom Engineer by day, Agastya proudly servers on the board of ReAct Theatre and Theatre Puget Sound. Many thanks to this cast and crew, to his wife Marianna, and to you for supporting local theatre. 

Jay is a software professional who moved to Seattle in 2011 and fell in love with everything about the city. He has been actively involved with Pratidhwani's Dance Productions both on and off the stage, most recently acting in Pratidhwani's Yours, Mallika. He has also worked in Marathi theater, first in California, followed by a couple of productions with Xperiments, Seattle. He is super excited about working with Pratidhwani again and especially with the Dance Like a Man team! 

Tanvee considers herself an artist, although where she's from, school, academics and education are considered everything. She creates code, she choreographs dances, she expresses emotions! She works as a software engineer during the day, and her evenings - and most of her life - is dedicated to her passion of dance and theater. The sounds of ghungroos and audience applause are her life's most prized moments. Tanvee has been with Pratidhwani since she came to Seattle in 2009 and has participated in, choreographed, acted and directed multiple Pratidhwani dance wing shows. Tanvee is also actively involved in the local Marathi drama scene, having done multiple plays for the Seattle Maharashtra Mandal as well as Xperiments, Seattle. 

Abhijeet moved to Seattle in 1999 and has been part of the vibrant Marathi drama community in Seattle for the past 10 years - performing in Seattle, San Jose, Portland and Vancouver as well. Most recently, he appeared in The Banyan Tree for Pratidhwani in 2013 and Everything But The Paper in 2014. Abhijeet writes his own stand-up comedy scripts, is an avid photographer and in his spare time manages to market technology products and services. He loves startups and is keenly interested in entrepreneur driven disruptive innovation. 

Meenakshi Rishi was born in bustling Bombay, was raised in delightful Delhi, and is currently ensconced in scintillating Seattle. She is a Professor of Economics at Seattle University. She is an active volunteer for various events organized by Seattle’s South Asian community. She has performed in: Mother in Another Language (Pratidhwani, performed at ACT theatre, 2011), Kingdom of Cards (Pratidhwani, performed at Meydenbauer Center, 2012), and has been involved in staged play readings for Pratidhwani as well as for Mirror Stage. She has also been part of the vision group for Seattle’s Yoni Ki Baat (The South Asian adaptation of the Vagina Monologues) and has participated in the show (2009, 2010) as well as directed it in 2013. She has also collaborated on several events organized by the Gardner Center for Asian Art and Ideas at the Seattle Asian Art Museum (SAAM). She was an active participant in Words on Water (June, 2013) and is assisted SAAM with the presentation of the epic Mahabharata by Jean-Claude Carriere in October 2014.