Samsara
by Lauren Yee
Co-Directed by Jamie M Rea and Ajai Tripathi
A ground-breaking comedy from one of the most produced playwrights in the U.S.
This production is performed at Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St. Portland, OR
Members: check your email for info on reserving your preferred seating, or contact boxoffice@profiletheatre.org with questions!
Katie and Craig are having a baby… with a surrogate… who lives in India. A month before the baby’s due date, Craig reluctantly travels to the subcontinent, where he meets Suraiya, their young, less-than-thrilled surrogate. As all three “parents” anxiously wait for the baby to be born, flights of fancy attack them from all sides, in the form of an unctuous Frenchman and a smart-mouthed fetus. A hysterical take on what to expect when you’re expecting someone else’s child.
Samsara features both special Friday night pre-show performances by local artists and Sunday afternoon post-show discussions curated by Subashini Ganesan, chair of the Oregon Arts Commission, former Create Laureate of Portland, and Founder and Artistic Director of New Expressive Works.
Thursday, January 23rd @ 7:30pm | First Preview, Pride Affinity Night
Friday, January 24th @ 7:30pm | Second Preview, Pre-show Performance with Dj Prashant
Saturday, January 25th @ 7:30pm | Opening Night!
Sunday, January 26th @ 2pm | Mat Chat with Priya Kapoor
Thursday, January 30th @7:30pm | BIPOC Affinity Night
Friday, January 31st @ 7:30pm
Saturday, February 1st @ 7:30pm
Sunday, February 2nd @ 2pm | Mat Chat
Thursday, February 6th @ 7:30pm | AANHPI Affinity Night
Friday, February 7th @ 7:30pm
Saturday, February 8th @ 7:30pm
Sunday, February 9th @ 2pm
It is always intriguing how different people may approach the notion of samsara. That cycle of living – birth, death and rebirth – that we all find ourselves in. To some it is an understanding of wisdom, to others a trap to escape from or transcend. This play touches much on the notion of new life. The characters all – in their own way – approach the notion of their own new life – their own rebirth or transition.
It has been a pleasure watching these actors portray characters that are, in many ways, part of each other. As though this story, at least temporarily, lifts the veil of illusion that keeps us separate. But in truth we are connected. India is connected to the US. Another delight is how India emerges as its own character – both the illusion and the reality. This has been a process with many delights. We hope you are also, at times, delighted, and at times moved, with this experience.
-Directors Ajai Tripathi and Jamie M. Rea
Meet the Team!
Lauren Yee | Playwright
About Lauren Yee
Lauren Yee is a playwright, screenwriter, and TV writer born and raised in San Francisco. She currently lives in New York City.
Her CAMBODIAN ROCK BAND, with music by Dengue Fever and others, premiered at South Coast Rep, with subsequent productions at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Victory Gardens, City Theatre, Merrimack Rep, and Signature Theatre. Her play THE GREAT LEAP has been produced at Denver Center, Seattle Rep, Atlantic Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Arts Club, InterAct Theatre, Steppenwolf, Pasadena Playhouse/East West Players, and Cygnet Theatre.
Lauren Yee’s play KING OF THE YEES premiered at The Goodman Theatre and Center Theatre Group, followed by productions at ACT Theatre, Canada’s National Arts Centre, and Baltimore Center Stage. Other plays include CHING CHONG CHINAMAN (Pan Asian Rep, Mu Performing Arts), THE HATMAKER’S WIFE (Playwrights Realm, Moxie, PlayPenn), HOOKMAN (Encore, Company One), IN A WORD (Young Vic, SF Playhouse, Cleveland Public, Strawdog), SAMSARA (Victory Gardens), THE SONG OF SUMMER (Trinity Rep, Mixed Blood), and THE TIGER AMONG US (Mu).
She is the winner of the Doris Duke Artist Award, the Steinberg Playwright Award, the Horton Foote Prize, the Kesselring Prize, the ATCA/Steinberg Award, American Academy of Arts and Letters literature award, and the Francesca Primus Prize. She has been a finalist for the Edward M. Kennedy Prize and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Her plays were the #1 and #2 plays on the 2017 Kilroys List.
Lauren is a Residency 5 playwright at Signature Theatre, New Dramatists member (class of 2025), Ma-Yi Writers’ Lab member, former Princeton University Hodder fellow, and Playwrights Realm alumni playwright. Current commissions include Arena Stage, Geffen Playhouse, La Jolla Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Second Stage, South Coast Rep.
Jamie M Rea | Co-Director
About Jamie M Rea
Jamie has had the pleasure of exploring theatre as a tool for connection and change for over 20 years. After directing in LA, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Ohio, New York, and Portland, she now serves as founding co-artistic director of The Beirut Wedding World Theatre Project. Recent local credits include Jesus Hopped the A-Train, CoHo/Beirut Wedding, Topdog Underdog (Street Scenes) and B*tch in Kitchen as part of Salt with Shaking the Tree.
Jamie’s activism work has a heavy focus on survivors of sexual violence. Two local projects include the development of and tour of Telling – a piece where survivors tell their own stories with facilitated audience conversations (3 year partnership with OAASIS – a Portland based resource and advocacy organization for adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse). And Made to Dance in Burning Buildings, an interdisciplinary dance/theatre piece of a survivor’s reclamation of self as she navigates PTSD.
Ajai Tripathi | Co-Director
About Ajai Tripathi
Ajai Tripathi is an Actor, Director, Producer, and Playwright. He graduated from OSU with a BA in Theatre Arts, has worked as an Education Director, Teaching Artist, and Acting coach with Milagro, and Northwest Children’s Theatre and School. He has written three bilingual shows for young audiences for Teatro Milagro, and serves on the administrative team of PDX Playwrights. His work is guided by the mission of centering marginalized communities, decolonizing theatre and academia, and advocating for inclusive practices in the arts.
Cast & Stage Management
Click on the headshot to read their full bios!
Design Team
Sara Estrella
Costume Designer
Subashini Ganesan-Forbes
Cultural Consultant
Alex Meyer
Scenic Designer
Kristen Mun-Van Noy
Intimacy Director
Rory Stitt
Sound Designer
Kelly Terry
Lighting Designer
Hetal Varia
Dialect Coach
Olivia Vavroch
Prop & Set Dressing Coordinator
Supplemental Events
Affinity Nights
Affinity Nights are a chance for us to celebrate the diverse communities that make up our city and audiences! Members of the specified communities are invited to celebrate with us through pick-your-price tickets starting at $5, a pre-show party with complimentary wine, and free door prizes! Affinity Nights are held at 6:30 PM every Thursday of the run! Click below for discount codes and ticketing links!
Pride Night | January 23rd @ 6:30 PM
Pride Affinity Night invites LGBTQIA+ community members to enjoy discounted $5 tickets (use promo code SAMSARAPRIDE at checkout) and a pre-show reception with complimentary wine and door prizes.
At the theater, check in at the box office and let staff know you’re attending Affinity Night so that we can welcome you to the party!
BIPOC Night | January 30th @ 6:30 PM
BIPOC Affinity Night invites members of the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color community to enjoy discounted $5 tickets (use promo code SAMSARABIPOC at checkout) and a pre-show reception with complimentary wine and door prizes.
At the theater, check in at the box office and let staff know you’re attending Affinity Night so that we can welcome you to the party!
AANHPI Night | February 6th @ 6:30 PM
Asian American and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Night invites members of the AANHPI community to enjoy discounted $5 tickets (use promo code SAMSARA-AANHPI at checkout) and a pre-show reception with complimentary wine and door prizes.
At the theater, check in at the box office and let staff know you’re attending Affinity Night so that we can welcome you to the party!
Pre-show Performances
Curated by former Creative Laureate of Portland Subashini Ganesan-Forbes, our Pre-show Performances supplement your evening with dance, music, and performance! Pre-show Performances are held every Friday of the run at 6:30 PM.
DJ Prashant: January 24th | 6:30 PM
Join us before the show on January 24th for a Bollywood Dance performance hosted by DJ Prashant!
About DJ Prashant: Imagine a Bollywood musical, larger than life & with synchronized dance moves, that’s your typical DJ PRASHANT experience – a high-energy interactive party featuring genre-blending music that compels everybody to rock the dance floor longer and harder.
Originally from Mumbai, India, Prashant is an ex-Intel engineer turned professional DJ, and a cultural vanguard based out of Portland, Oregon. As a full-time artist for over 15 years, he has built a dynamic career spanning performances, community engagement, and creative content creation.
Prashant founded Jai Ho! Dance Party in 2010, DRiP in 2017, and tours them at nightclubs across the US regularly.
His ability to strike a chord with an audience of any age group & background helps curate unique & wholesome experiences that unite the most diverse audiences through music and dance, often his own creations.
The reputation of consistently delivering world-class entertainment deeply rooted in the spirit of joyous celebration has seen him being brought back repeatedly to perform at festivals such as Oregon Country Fair, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Salem World Beat Festival, Portland Sunday Parkways, and more.
Camas High School Choir presents South Asian Choral Fusion: February 7th | 6:30 PM
Camas High School Choir students have been working with expert Carnatic (southern Indian) musicians throughout the fall semester, Zooming with composers in Australia and Philadelphia and performing with local percussionists. Our repertoire is a hybrid of Western choral and jazz traditions and Indian classical, traditional, and popular music, with a cappella voices playing the parts of traditional and modern instruments from mridangam drums to violins and more.
Mat Chats
Mat Chats are post-show opportunities for the audience to take a deeper dive into the world and themes of the play with artists, experts, and educators. They take place on the stage five minutes after the Sunday matinees.
Priya Kapoor: January 26th | Post-show
Stick around after the show on January 26th for a Mat Chat with scholar and Professor Priya Kapoor!
Professor Kapoor’s research engages the multicultural moment where culture and culture industries (that generate popular culture) are not simply articulated in aesthetic terms but take into account social justice, community mobilization, transnational turns, and a wide media landscape of not just commercial and mass forms but local and social media.