Minita Gandhi
Minita (she/they) is a playwright/librettist/healer and multi-hyphenate who was born in Mumbai, India. She currently resides in Los Angeles but has strong roots in Chicago and the Bay Area. Gandhi is most known for their critically acclaimed solo-show, Muthaland. Muthaland received Jeff nominations for best new work and best solo performance. It has been seen at Oregon Shakespeare Festival (CAATA), Silk Road Rising, selected for the Ignition Festival of new plays at Victory Gardens Theater, was an official selection for the NNPN Women in Playwrighting Festival at Florida Studio Theater and the Anne Frank Social Justice Festival at SUNY. It has played at colleges and universities around the country. Their work has been described as “darkly comedic, brave, poetic, nuanced,” and often explores themes of social justice, family, and the multi-cultural and multi-generational experience. Gandhi has a deep love for magical realism and poetry.
Gandhi’s play The Sun and all its Sighs was part of the 2020 Ripped Festival at American Blues Theater in 2020. They have been a dramaturg for PCPA Theaterfest’s production of Much Ado about Nothing and Book-It Theater’s World Premiere production of Behold the Dreamers. They are the director/producer for a 5-episode Documentary Series: History is Now. Other directing/writing credits include the digital production of Hindsight is 2020 or how Raisin Rainbows survived a pandemic starring Tony Award nominee Cora Vanderbroek, and new work development and readings at CAATA, and Stage Left Theater.
As an activist/healer they have been a keynote speaker for Commit2Change, KCATF, and Imagine Talks. Gandhi has led workshops for business leadership, Activism, Artivism, Manifestation/Meditation, Self-Care, and Advocacy for Self around the world. Their platforms include but are not limited to: equity through an intersectional lens, sexual assault, mentorship, and advocacy and empowerment for those BIPOC and gender diverse people. Minita privately coaches arts leaders and senior executives at Minita Studio and aids them in achieving their goals through a holistic lens. They have worked diligently to build national mentorship programs for the corporate world, and in the arts. They are the Founder of IGNITE, a mentorship program for women and non-binary BIPOC artists and the Co-founder of Pathways a two-year mentorship and professional development program for gender diverse BIPOC artists in the Portland area. They are the former National Program Director for AGE (Advance Gender Equity in the Arts), and StateraArts. They have been invited to speak at many events including the Courier 12 Screenwriting Conference, Brighthouse Networks Women’s Leadership Conference, CapGemini in India for International Women’s Day, a host for Speak on It! Community Panel for the Goodman Theatre and for the Seattle Arts & Lectures Council.
As an actor they play Dr. Barr opposite Diane Kruger in Swimming with Sharks. They can be seen in the recurring role of Dr. Prospere on NBC’s Chicago Fire, Fox’s Empire, NBC’s Crisis, ABC’s Betrayal, Fox’s The Chicago Code, in the hit web series Brown Girls, and was The Onion News Network’s anchor, Nina Shankar. She voices Shuma Mukherjee and others on Disney’s Mixed-Up Adventures. Minita has also been a proud pledge host with PBS for their WTTW Chicago affiliate station Channel 11. Gandhi has worked at some of the most respected theatrical institutions in America, including: Berkeley Repertory Theater, The Arena Stage, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Lookingglass Theater, and Victory Gardens Theater. They have had the honor of working with Tony award winning adaptor and director Mary Zimmermann, and originated the role of Priya, in Silk Road Rising’s World Premiere production of Rajiv Joseph’s, The Lake Effect. http://www.minitagandhi.com/
