Sophiyaa Nayar

Sophiyaa Nayar is from New Delhi, India. She creates interdisciplinary and genre-bending work that places (im)immigrants and BIPOC people at the center of the narrative. Most recently, she directed Shakuntala by Lavina Jadhwani (Future Labs, Goodman Theatre). She is a member of the Women’s Project Lab (2020-22), an ensemble member with Definition Theatre, a member of Director's Lab Chicago (2017), and was a resident in Milwaukee Rep’s 2017/18 season. She is part of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation’s Observership Class, through which she worked on Soft Power by Jeanine Tesori and David Henry Hwang at The Public.

Recent work includes Love in The Time of Jonestown: A Radio Play by Omer Abbas Salem (New Coordinates), Good Years by Ada Alozie (Definition Theatre), Pretty Shahid by Omer Abbas Salem (Jackalope Theatre), MLK Project by Yolanda Androzzo (Writers Theatre), and EthiopianAmerica by Sam Kabede (Definition Theatre), which won Black Theater Alliance Awards for Best Play, Featured Actor, and Featured Actress, as well as a Jeff Award for Fight Choreography. She recently workshopped a screenplay with Sundance under Jessica Sharzer.