The Troubadour Podcast From Mahabharata to Workplace Justice
What happens when an epic Hindu poem collides with modern workplace bias?
Artistic-director Sharanya Rao joins Kirk to trace three big chapters of her journey: consulting on Mahabharata Tales for Austin Shakespeare, founding Leela Indian Community Theatre, and creating Anklets in the Boardroom, a Theatre of the Oppressed production where spectators jump onstage to rewrite real discrimination scenarios. https://www.leelatheatre.org/
In this conversation:
Cutting the Mahabharata down to a 2-hour stage piece (and the “must-have” scenes)
Why Austin needed a South-Asian community stage—and how Leela was born in 2012
Theatre of the Oppressed 101: “spect-actors,” no spectators
How story circles turn real workplace stories into live scripts
The power of name-pronunciation, audience agency, and non-violent rehearsal
May 16-18 performances of Anklets in the Boardroom at Austin PBS