• Français
Teesri Duniya Theatre Montreal Teesri Duniya Theatre Montreal
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Our Team
    • Our Policies
    • Annual Reports
  • Programming
    • Our Season: Staging Freedom
    • Events
    • Past Programming
    • Artist Programs
  • Fireworks
    • About Fireworks
    • Current Cohort
    • Past Cohorts
  • Venues
  • ALT Theatre
  • Contact
Support Us
Teesri Duniya Theatre Montreal Teesri Duniya Theatre Montreal

Our Team

Our office team is composed of individuals of all ages, genders, cultures, and sexualities. We provide opportunities to passionate individuals, creating space for them to learn and grow with us. 

Our team employs artists and administrators of various professional backgrounds all dedicated to creating politically relevant theatre. 

Check out the office team and familiarise yourself with our artistic associates below!

Artistic Staff

Rahul Varma

Artistic Director

Vishesh Abeyratne

Literary Manager, Play Development

Sean Ryan

Artistic Associate

Administration

Elsa di Paola

Rangshala Studio Coordinator

Gaby Rutter

Office Administrator

Yolanda Chow

General Manager

Manoj Chandarana

Accountant

Andre Athanasiadis

Technical Support

Shailee Rajak

Archivist

Marketing and Communication

Rania Salawdeh

Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Janis Kirshner

Publicist

Artistic Associates

Deepa Nallappan

Artist in Residence

Siya Pandit

Independent Project, Trans-Formation

Sarah Nogues

Independent Project, Ombrages

Board of Directors

  • Adrienne Piggott – President / Associate Director, Faculty Procurement – McGill University

  • Dipti Gupta – Vice President / Professor, Department of Cinema and Communications – Dawson College

  • Sushil Handa – Treasurer / Retired – Entrepreneur

  • Amina Bambotia – Secretary / Equity Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) specialist and process consultant – Fractal Facilitation

  • James Douglas / Tour Manager – Geordie Theatre

  • Rusual Al-Shawkat / Pharmaceutical Technician – Pharmaprix

  • Cristina Alejandra Jiménez Gómez / Teaching Assistant at the Dept. of Theatre and the Interdisciplinary Courses in Fine Arts – Concordia University

  • Rekha Iyer / Professor of Chemistry – John Abbott College

  • Iftekhar Ahmed / Director – Thermal Engineering

  • Ted Little – Emeritus Artistic Director / Former Professor of Theatre – Concordia University

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Get the latest about our shows, productions and plays right in your inbox.

Name(Required)
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Teesri Duniya Theatre

Contact Us

  • info@teesriduniyatheatre.com
  • +1 (514) 848-0238
  • Teesri Duniya Theatre Teesri Duniya Theatre
    Cité-des-Hospitalières 251 Avenue des Pins Ouest
    #148
    Montreal, QC H2W1R5
    CA
  • Theatre
    • About Us
    • Our Team
    • Join Us
    • Rangshala Studio
    • Support Us
    • Contact Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Service
  • Artists
    • Past Programming
    • Auditions
    • Play Submissions
    • Residencies and Internships
    • Our Policies
  • Fireworks
    • Current Cohort
    • Past Cohorts
    • Apply to Fireworks
  • Events Page
    • Calendar
    • Venues-OLD
    • My Bookings
    • Ticket Refund Policy
© 2024 Teesri Duniya Theatre All Rights Reserved
Designed & Developed by Third Wunder
Teesri Duniya Theatre Montreal Teesri Duniya Theatre Montreal
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Story
    • Our Team
    • Our Policies
    • Annual Reports
  • Programming
    • Our Season: Staging Freedom
    • Events
    • Past Programming
    • Artist Programs
  • Fireworks
    • About Fireworks
    • Current Cohort
    • Past Cohorts
  • Venues
  • ALT Theatre
  • Contact
Support Us

Rahul Varma

Artistic Director

Rahul Varma is a playwright, activist, and Artistic Director of Teesri Duniya Theatre. In 1981, he co-founded the company with Rana Bose. He co-founded a journal, alt.theatre: cultural diversity and the stage in 1998. Born in India, Rahul writes in Hindi and English, a language he acquired as an adult. His recent plays include Counter Offence; Bhopal; Truth and Treason; State of Denial and Dhara’s Revenge, among others. His unproduced new works include Kali’s Dance, Merchant of God and Talaq, etc. His plays have been translated into French, Italian, Hindi and Punjabi. He is honoured to have worked with India’s pre-eminent artist, the late Dr. Habib Tanvir.

Rahul has received the Quebec Drama Federation’s Juror’s Award (1986); the Montreal English Critics Circle award for interculturalism (1999); META’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Award (2018); and a Lifetime Honorary Membership Award (2020) from the Canadian Association for Theatre Research.

Vishesh Abeyratne

Literary Manager, Play Development

Vishesh Abeyratne is a Sri Lankan-Canadian playwright and dramaturg who divides his time between Ottawa and Montreal. He is the Literary Manager for Teesri Duniya Theatre and the coordinator at the Fireworks Playwrights’ Mentorship Program. He has served as playwright-in-residence at the Great Canadian Theatre Company. His plays include Exposure, Blood Offering, White Lion, Brown Tiger, and The Agony Market.

Sean Ryan

Artistic Associate

Sean Ryan (they/he/she) is a queer actor/performer/creator who finds joy in the exploration. They started their journey near the water, on Treaty 13A territory- a territory which was and remains under the care of the Mississauga of the Credit First Nation. They currently practice in Tiohtià:ke, the unceded territory of the Kanienʼkehá꞉ka people, where they find themselves beginning a career that centers around love, death, decolonization, queerness, clown, and the chaos that comprises a life.

A recent graduate of Concordia University’s acting program, they just played Beauté in Infinithéâtre’s Extra/Beautiful/U and completed their first professional Assistant Director contract with Liz Valdez on Tableau D’Hôtes, Caravan. Through their practice, they hope to cultivate and create the spark that makes a room collectively and impulsively hold its breath.

Elsa di Paola

Rangshala Studio Coordinator

Elsa (she/her) is based in Montreal, she is a recent graduate from McGill University's English Department, where she now works as a costume assistant. She is continuously involved in various performing arts projects as a stage manager, production manager, and occasional costume maker.

📧 rangshala@teesriduniyatheatre.com

Gaby Rutter

Office Administrator

Gaby (she/her) is a recent graduate of Concordia’s Bachelor of Fine Arts program, where she majored in Music. With years of experience as a performer and teacher, she is deeply passionate about the arts and fostering creativity. Gaby recently joined Teesri’s office administration team, where she shares her enthusiasm for supporting creative communities.

📧 info@teesriduniyatheatre.com

Yolanda Chow

General Manager

Yolanda is an emerging filmmaker, based in Montreal. She has produced, written, and directed, for podcasts, campaigns, and short films. In her work, she combines her passion for storytelling and the arts to foster community and champion social causes.

📧 admin@teesriduniyatheatre.com

Shailee Rajak

Archivist

Shailee Rajak—an Indian scholar, writer, and theater practitioner—joined Teesri Duniya as a Research Intern from McGill University in 2022. In September 2023, she became the theater's Archivist and is currently leading a project to curate, preserve, and digitize its four decades of rich history. Her work has led to the publication of a paper titled, “Teesri Duniya’s ‘Counter’ Offence” in the International Association of Theatre Critics’ (IATC) journal, Critical Stages/Scènes critiques.

Rania Salawdeh

Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Rania Salawdeh—artistically known as Lardjane—is a visual storyteller and cultural worker based in Montreal. She studied Film Production at Dar Al-Kalima University in Bethlehem and completed a BFA in Film Studies at Concordia University, Canada.

📧 marketing@teesriduniyatheatre.com

Janis Kirshner

Publicist

As a seasoned theatre/literary/arts publicist, Janis is passionate about promoting the stories & people that make remarkable, creative works. As an actor she takes performing comedic roles seriously and values serious roles. She has decades of experience working with most of Montreal’s respected independent and established theatre companies, festivals and incredibly talented artists, as well as the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival and numerous publishers and authors. 

In addition to her work as a sought-after publicist, Janis has written a range of feature articles, columns, and theatre interviews and reviews for diverse media, publications and organizations. She also enjoyed years on the radio as a traffic reporter, entertainment reviewer and host of open-line talk shows. Janis co-founded the comedy duo TITTERS (with Laura Mitchell), with shows featuring stand-up comedy, sketches, spoken word, monologues and songs, at Fringe Festivals, the Vancouver Int’l Comedy Festival, theatres, comedy clubs, fundraisers and events. She’s sat on a number of professional committees including the METAs, Canadian Actors' Equity Association and the MECCAs. Janis is honoured to be Teesri Duniya Theatre’s longtime publicist. 

Deepa Nallappan

Artist in Residence

Deepa Nallappan, the artistic director of Param des arts, is a Bharathanatyam artist, performer, and teacher located in Montreal. With over three decades of dedication to learning and performing in this artistic domain, Deepa staunchly supports ethnocultural diversity, inclusion, and fosters intercultural and interfaith understanding. she tirelessly endeavors to bring pressing social issues to the forefront of the community's attention through her dance creations. Additionally, Deepa serves as the curator of the Montreal Natyanjali festival.

Siya Pandit

Independent Project, Trans-Formation

Siya is an undergraduate student at McGill University, where she is majoring in Political Science. Having been involved in the theatre community since high school, she is very fortunate to continue this work in meaningful ways throughout university as well. In her work with Teesri, Siya hopes to impact change in her community through the arts.

They are currently in charge of the project Trans-Formation which deals with discrimination and racism by presenting the real experiences of BIPOC LGBTQ-TGD communities.