A joyful, uplifting way to celebrate the holidays.
— San Mateo Daily Journal
As delightful as peppermint hot cocoa."
— The Mercury News
WORLD PREMIERE

THE EMPLOYEE DHARMA HANDBOOK

SHOW HAS CLOSED

Jul 8-Aug 2, 2026

Lucie Stern Theatre, Palo Alto

By GEETHA REDDY
Directed by SNEHAL DESAI
A KURJAN/BUTLER Commission

As an important rocket launch approaches, Val, an HR Executive at an aerospace company in Silicon Valley, suspects that a young engineer was overlooked for a promotion. Leela, a first generation Indian-American, doesn’t really want to talk about it, but Val suspects sexism is the cause. What they don’t expect to uncover are simmering tensions of ancient origins among the company’s Indian immigrant employees…sorry, Valued Team Members. Soon Val is navigating a funhouse of identity, nepotism, and desire as she tries to understand the culture and biases of Leela’s managers. When push comes to shove, Val will need to decide what her duty is to Leela, to the company, and to herself.

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Special Events & Accessible Performances

Join TheatreWorks for a pre-show discussion with an artist from the production. In this free event, peer behind the scenes and learn more about the process of bringing this production to life.

  • Thursday, July 9 @ 6:15 – 6:45 pm (in the lobby)
  • Wednesday, July 15 @ 7:30pm
  • Wednesday, July 22 @ 7:30pm
  • Wednesday, July 29 @ 7:30pm
  • Sunday, July 19 @ 1pm
  • Thursday, July 23 @ 7:30pm
  • Sunday, July 26 @ 1pm

Photos: Kevin Berne, 2025

Cast

RANJITA CHAKRAVARTY*

RANJITA CHAKRAVARTY (C.K.) is thrilled to essay the role of CK in TheatreWorks’ The Employee Dharma Handbook. She is best known for her recurring role as Nirmala (the grandmother) in Seasons 2, 3, and 4 of the hit Netflix series Never Have I Ever, and made an appearance in The Running Point (Season 1). Her film credits include Perfect Mismatch opposite Bollywood legend Anupam Kher, along with many independent shorts and feature films.  

Over the past two decades, Ranjita has portrayed a wide range of memorable characters on Bay Area stages, including, Marjorie in Jordan Harrison’s Marjorie Prime, Dadi in Singh-Wadhera’s  The Parting, and Nazia Sahiba in Mahesh Dattani’s Where Did I Leave My Purdah, among many others. She has also directed several productions, including Madhuri Shekhar’s  A Nice Indian Boy.  

In real life, Ranjita most enjoys her role as mother to Arjun and Alisha. She retired in May 2025 as Director of Internal Audit at Stanford University, concluding a distinguished 27-year career in higher education while continuing to pursue her lifelong passion for theater and performance.  

KUNAL DUDHEKER*

KUNAL DUDHEKER (Baasu) has appeared on numerous television series including Hacks (HBO), Silicon Valley (HBO), Better Things (FX), No Good Deed (Netflix), and Life by Ella (Apple). His other media credits include the Pixar spin-off series Dream Productions. On film, Dudheker was featured in Marvel Studios' Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Ad Astra and the indie feature Definition Please. He is also a writer, a comedian, and performs regularly at the Upright Citizens Brigade, various comedy venues, and the most prestigious of all, the internet.  

KATHRYN SMITH-MCGLYNN*

KATHRYN SMITH-MCGLYNN (Val) Regional theatre acting credits include Henry V (The Old Globe: Shakespeare for All), Wakey Wakey (American Conservatory Theatre), Fairview (Capital Stage Company), Sweat (Capital Stage Company), A Child’s Christmas In Reno and Holmes And Watson (B Street Theatre), Disgraced (San Jose Stage Company), Trojan Women (Shakespeare Theatre Company), The Peoples Temple (Perseverance Theatre Company), Love’s Labours Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, And Pericles (Marin Shakespeare Company). Film credits include the The Surrogate aka Beautiful Dreamer, The Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials, and The Best Man. Highlighted TV credits include Pulse (Netflix), The Cleaning Lady (FOX), Deputy (FOX), Better Call Saul (AMC), Grey’s Anatomy (ABC), Friday Night Lights (NBC), Scoundrels (ABC), In Plain Sight (AMC), As the World Turns (CBS), The Deep End (ABC), Hysteria (AMAZON), The Lying Game (ABC). Kathryn is co-host of the podcast Theatre Corner Green Room which gives Black artists a platform to share their artistic insights. She is an Adjunct Professor at JP Catholic University and former Co-Founding Artistic Director & Executive Producer of Frontera Repertory Theatre Company and Co-Author of African Americans in El Paso (Arcadia Publishing). She is also writer/director of Come Away With Me, a play for youth about the courageous life of Harriet Tubman. Kathryn holds an MFA in Acting from Carnegie Mellon University, a BA in Theatre and Drama from the University of Michigan and an MPA in Policy Analysis from Baruch College. For a complete listing of Kathryn’s current projects and appearances as well as links to social media, visit www.kathrynsmithmcglynn.com. 

MEGAN SURI*

MEGAN SURI (Leela) is an American actor. She is widely known for starring as “Aneesa” in Never Have I Ever from Mindy Kaling. Most recently, she can be seen as “Kat” in Companion from New Line Cinema, produced by Zach Cregger and released theatrically on January 31, 2025. Megan was the breakout star of It Lives Inside written and directed by Bishal Dutta, which Neon released in theaters in September 2023; the film won the Midnighters Audience Award at SXSW 2023. Megan can also be seen in Poker Face, starring in “The Night Shift” episode directed by Rian Johnson, opposite Natasha Lyonne and Hong Chau. Her previous work includes starring alongside Storm Reid in Missing and leading the award-winning The Miseducation of Bindu executive produced by Duplass Brothers Productions. Up next, she is set to star in The Big Kill, produced by Mason Novick. Most recently, Megan shot a role in 72 Hours directed by Tim Story and led by Kevin Hart for Netflix.

KAPIL TALWALKAR*

KAPIL TALWALKAR (Krish) is thrilled to make his TheatreWorks debut. He most recently appeared as Fabian in Twelfth Night (The Public Theater) for New York City’s Shakespeare in the Park. Talwalkar’s other theatre credits include the West Coast premieres of Philip Ridley’sRadiant Vermin (Odyssey Theatre), Rajiv Joseph’sAnimals Out of Paper (East West Players), and Eric Pfeffinger’s Human Error (Rogue Machine). On television, Talwalkar has been a main cast member on Peacock’s The ’Burbs, NBC’s Night Court, and NBC’s Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. Recurring television and voice credits include Charmed, The Loud House, and Apple TV’s Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed. He sends love to his family, both blood and chosen, and to Avery.

NIMA RAKHSHANIFAR*

NIMA RAKHSHANIFAR (Henry Grey) is happy to make their TheatreWorks debut. In the Bay Area, Rakhshanifar most recently appeared in Noises Off! at SF Playhouse. Credits include the world premieres of Bald Sisters at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Andy Warhol in Iran at Barrington Stage Company. Other regional credits include Twelfth Night and Sanctuary City (TheatreSquared); Selling Kabul (Northern Stage); Waiting for Godot (Victory Gardens); Short Shakes! Comedy of Errors at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Rakhshanifar can also be seen as the titular character in the short film Arman, which is currently making its rounds in international film festivals. Graduated from PCPA - Pacific Conservatory Theatre. nimarakhshanifar.com

WILLIAM THOMAS HODGSON*

WILLIAM THOMAS HODGSON, he/ him (Thomas O’Brien) has performed with TheatreWorks in Calligraphy, Mrs. Christie, and Miss Bennet. Acting credits include Every Brilliant Thing (CenterREP), An Octoroon (Mixed Blood Theatre), I Am My Own Wife (Oakland Theater Project),Cyrano (Aurora Theatre Company), Shrek The Musical (Sierra Repertory Theatre), It Can’t Happen Here (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), The Hunchback of Notre Dame (La Jolla Playhouse), and 5 years as a company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. William earned an MFA from the University of California, San Diego. He is the Co-Artistic Director of the Oakland Theater Project.

JORDAN LANE SHAPPELL*

JORDAN LANE SHAPPELL (Fitzwilliam Darcy) has performed with TheatreWorks in King James, for which he won a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award. He recently appeared in the films Patient and Monkey Bread. He will be in The Ally at Theatre Wit next spring. Shappell earned his BFA from The Theater School at DePaul University.

CLAIRE FRY

CLAIRE FRY (Georgiana/Jane/ Elizabeth U/S) is excited to be making her TheatreWorks debut! Favorite previous productions include Antigone, Godspell, The Bald Soprano, and Sweeney Todd. Claire has trained at A.C.T., the British American Dramatic Academy, and Columbia University.

MICHELLE SKINNER

MICHELLE SKINNER (Kitty/Mary/ Lydia U/S) is thrilled to be back at TheatreWorks, having understudied last Christmas’ Miss Bennet. She was last seen in Ray of Light’s 9 to 5: The Musical, and next, you can catch her in LASC’s The Cherry Orchard. Skinner is a graduate of the acting program at South Coast Repertory, as well as UC Irvine. Other TheatreWorks credits include: Sense & Sensibility, Pride & Prejudice, and Tuck Everlasting.

NATE G. WRIGHT

NATE G. WRIGHT (Henry/Thomas/ Darcy U/S) has performed previously with Azusa Pacific University in The Music Man, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and The Phantom of the Opera and earned his BFA from Azusa Pacific University.

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

CREATIVE TEAM

GEETHA REDDY, Playwright

GEETHA REDDY is a playwright and filmmaker working in the Bay Area. Her play The Employee Dharma Handbook was commissioned by TheatreWorks and included in the 2025 Theatreworks New Works Festival. Other plays include Mahābhārata (Oakland Theatre Project) Far, Far Better Things (Shotgun Players/ TheatreFirst), Hela (with Lauren Gunderson, TheatreFirst), Safe House (SF Playhouse), and Blastosphere (with Aaron Loeb, CentralWorks). Reddy’s plays Me Given You, Girl in a Box, and On a Wonderverse were part of the Playwright’s Foundation’s ‘In the Rough’ reading series. She has been commissioned by TheatreWorks, SFPlayhouse, Oakland Theatre Project, Shotgun Players, Crowded Fire, the Gerbode Foundation, and PlayGround. Reddy is a member of the Dramatist’s Guild, and an alumna Resident Playwright at the Playwright’s Foundation.

SNEHAL DESAI, Director

SNEHAL DESAI is the Artistic Director of Center Theatre Group. Previously, he served as Producing Artistic Director of East West Players.  A Soros Fellow and recipient of the Tanne Award, he was a member of the inaugural cohorts of the Theatre Communications Group Spark Leadership Program and the Drama League Classical Directing Fellowship. Select directing credits include Here Lies Love, American Idiot (with Deaf West Theatre), Allegiance, Mamma Mia!, Assassins, and A Nice Indian Boy. He currently serves on the board of National Alliance for Musical Theatre.

WILSON CHIN, Scenic Design

WILSON CHIN, (Scenic Designer) Wilson Chin’s designs at TheatreWorks include Come From Away, Being Alive, Ragtime (SFBATCC Award winner), The Bridges of Madison County, tokyo fish story and The Lake Effect. Broadway/National Tours: Cost of Living, Pass Over (Drama Desk and Lortel Award nominations), Next Fall, Annie. Recent world premieres: The Hunter S. Thompson Musical (La Jolla Playhouse), Anne of Green Gables (Goodspeed Musicals), Jonah and Chinese Republicans (Roundabout Theatre Company), Space Dogs (MCC, Lortel Award nomination), The Thanksgiving Play (Playwrights Horizons), Sumo and Teenage Dick (Ma-Yi/Public Theatre). Opera designs include Turandot (Washington National Opera), Lucia di Lammermoor (Lyric Opera of Chicago) and Eine Florentinische Tragodie/Gianni Schicchi (Canadian Opera, Dora Award winner). Film/TV design includes Pass Over (directed by Spike Lee), Game Theory with Bomani Jones (HBO) and Blindspot (NBC). @wilsonchindesign

LISA CLAYBAUGH, Costume Design

LISA CLAYBAUGH (Costume Designer) has more than 30 years’ experience in costumes. Her work was last seen in Theatreworks’ A Driving Beat, Los Altos Stage’s The Cherry Orchard, Silicon Valley Shakespeare’s Richard III, and Hillbarn Theatre’s Plaza Suite. Lisa is based in the SF Bay Area and by day is the Assistant Costumer at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley. She also designs for many other theaters including Musical Theatre Works, Palo Alto Players, and Sunnyvale Community Players. She holds degrees in Dance and German Translation from Rutgers University. She is grateful for the support of her family, especially Marc, Aidan and Xander.

ERIN BEDNARZ, Sound Design

BEDNARZ (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work spans sound design, music, performance, production, and dramaturgy. She is known for creating immersive sonic landscapes that amplify the emotional core of theatrical storytelling. Off-Broadway credits: The Convent (Rattlestick), Mac Beth (Red Bull, Hunter Theater Project). Regional Credits: Sara Porkalob's Dragon Lady (Marin Theater Company, Center Repertory), We Are Pussy Riot (Magic Theatre). Teaching credits: Cal Poly, Pomona College, UC Riverside, NYU, Cornish College of the Arts, University of Washington. Press Mentions: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal. Bednarz is currently enrolled at Point Blank Music School as a We Are Moving The Needle scholar studying Music Production and Sound Design. @play__pranks

AMITH CHANDRASHAKER, Lighting Design

AMITH CHANDRASHAKER (Lighting Design) is a Tony-nominated lighting designer working in theater, opera, and dance. Broadway: Prayer for the French Republic, Merrily We Roll Along, Purpose. Regional and Off-Broadway: Second Stage Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Geffen Playhouse, The Huntington Theatre, The Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, New York Theatre Workshop, and The Atlantic Theater Company. Opera: The Glimmerglass Festival, Houston Grand Opera, and Washington National Opera. Dance: Staatstheater Nuremberg, Lyon Opera Ballet, Royal New Zealand Ballet, The Joyce Theater, and National Dance Company of Wales. Recipient of the Drama Desk and Henry Hewes Design Awards; Union Trustee, United Scenic Artists Local USA 829 IATSE; MFA, NYU Tisch School of the Arts; Faculty, University of Maryland School of Theatre, Dance and Performance Studies.

JAMES ARD, Sound Design

JAMES ARD (Sound Designer) is a noisemaker specializing in new works, live experiences, and immersive stage productions. Ard’s recent designs at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley include Little Women, Happy Pleasant Valley, Miss Bennet, Queen, and Mrs. Christie. Recent work outside TWSV includes collaborations with Under the Radar at The Public Theater, American Conservatory Theater, San Francisco Playhouse, Summerhall at the Edinburgh Fringe, Sibiu International Theatre Festival, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, American Repertory Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland Center Stage, Center Repertory Company, Ensemble Theatre Company, Cutting Ball Theater, Crowded Fire Theater, Joe Goode Performance Group, Stanford University, UC Berkeley, and Atlantic Theater Company.

ROXIE JOHNSON, Wig/Hair Design

ROXIE JOHNSON (Wig Designer) is proud to be collaborating on another Christmas at Pemberely with TheaterWorks. She is excited to be a part of Georgiana and Kitty’s story. Her current projects are Wait Until Dark for Ross Valley Players and A Christmas Story for 6th Street Playhouse. She regularly collaborates with Sonoma Arts Live, Westedge’s Opera Festival and Livermore Valley Opera. She most recently designed wigs and makeup for Janis Joplin and La Traviata. Her upcoming projects are Scrooge the Musical for Sonoma Arts Live and Romeo and Juliet for 6th Street Playhouse, as well as teaching the Special Effects Makeup and Wig class this Spring at Santa Rosa Junior College

JUDITH NIHEI, Artist Counselor

JUDITH NIHEI, she/her (Artist Counselor) is a San Francisco- based licensed psychotherapist in private practice, consults for schools, nonprofits and community-based organizations, facilitating the incorporation of stress-reduction and cultural humility as an integral part oftrauma-informed services. Clients have included Edgewood Center for Children and Families, Japanese Community Youth Council, and Theatre Communications Group, Inc. As a director, dramaturg, writer, actor, and administrator, she has worked with Asian American theatre companies in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Seattle, as well as The Seattle Rep, Cornish College of the Arts, Hillbarn Theatre and BRAVA. She began her career in improv with The Committee and currently performs as one of The Bad Aunties.

RANDALL K. LUM*, Stage Manager

RANDALL K. LUM (Stage Manager) is a resident stage manager for TheatreWorks, where he worked on productions of Little Women, Happy Pleasant Valley, King James, Being Alive, Queen, How I Learned What I Learned, Steel Magnolias, In Every Generation, Nan and the Lower Body, They Promised Her the Moon, Pride and Prejudice, The 39 Steps, Archduke, Fun Home, Hold These Truths, Finks, Skeleton Crew, Around the World in 80 Days, and The Prince of Egypt, among others. Other credits include the Oregon and San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals, Laguna Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, Denver Center Theatre Co., La Jolla Playhouse, Center Theatre Group, The Old Globe, American Conservatory Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, Berkeley Rep, Center Rep, Seattle Rep, and South Coast Rep.

EMILY ANDERSON WOLF*, Assistant Stage Manager

EMILY ANDERSON WOLF, (Assistant Stage Manager) she/her/any has been the Assistant Stage Manager for TheatreWorks’ Come Back to the 5 & Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean: A New Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, Archduke, Frost/Nixon, Fun Home, Crimes of the Heart, Jane Austen’s Emma, Triangle, Fire on the Mountain, Peter and the Starcatcher, Sweeney Todd, The Hound of the Baskervilles, Little Women, and Other Desert Cities. She was also the Assistant Stage Manager for threesixty Entertainment’s First National Tour of Peter Pan; Journey to the West at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, and with American Musical Theatre of San Jose. Ms. Wolf is also a proud member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees. She holds a BA in Theatre, Cum Laude from Mount Holyoke College.

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