Sunderella
A Queer Bollywood Twist on Cinderella; PACT Theatre, Sydney; February 2017
What could be more entertaining than Cinderella on stage? A queer Bollywood twist called Sunderella, of course. A sea of sequins and saris, bindis and bangles descended on Sydney’s PACT Centre for Emerging Artists, as part of the 38th Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival in February 2017.
Set in 18th-century British India, Sunderella featured a cast of 15 men — half of them dressed as women in splendid costumes and jewellery. Produced by Sydney-based Trikone Australia and Bali Padda, Sunderella offered audiences a night of endless entertainment, with all the cornerstones of Bollywood — comic characters, dramatic scenes, foot-tapping music, a heartrending love story and, of course, sweeping dance performances.
Executive Producer Trikone Australia
Director Bali Padda
Co-Producers Kunal Mirchandani, Bali Padda, Zeenat Parveen
Writer Kunal Mirchandani
Choreographer Zeenat Parveen
Lighting Designer James Wallis
Stage Manager Faith Brown
Assistant Stage Manager Guy Mitchell
Follow Spot Operator Alex Torney
Photographer Clare Marshall
CAST
Prince Nirad Arron Johnson
Narrator Zeenat Parveen
Sundar Prasanna Pichai
Sunderella Mohini Dixit
Mother Amrik Tumber
Dolly Gigi Habib
Pinky Rani Qismat
Manav Lloyd King
Palace Announcer Sachin Prabhu
Dancers Tim Chen, Erol Dalkic, Ellis Fatoush, Kunal Mirchandani, Bali Padda, Kaizad Panthaki
