Welcome to the 32nd episode of A QISSAA with Ishika: Quintessential and Inspiring Stories of South Asian Stories! My guest today is theatermaker and director Zi Alikhan. Raised in California and based in New York, Zi is an alum of NYU TISCH and programs including TCG Rising Leaders of Color, Drama League Directors Project, Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, Drama League Artist Residency Program, Manhattan Theatre Club Jonathan Alper Directing Fellowship, Williamstown Directing Corps, and Drama League Rough Draft. Zi’s award-winning directing work has been seen across the country. His direction of On That Day in Amsterdam at Primary Stages earned Drama Desk Award and Lucille Lortel Award nominations. I saw Zi’s vision in action in Sanctuary City at Pasadena Playhouse and was floored by the poetic world he built! He has also directed the US regional premiere of The Band’s Visit and a drag-centered reimagining of the Wizard of Oz at geva Theater Center. He was the resident director for the national tour of Hamilton, and he assistant directed the first national tour of The Band’s Visit, as well as Six Degrees of Separation, The Rose Tattoo, and It Shoulda Been You! on Broadway. Zi’s directing work has also been performed at Juilliard, Yale, Pace, Writers Theatre/TheatreSquared, Paper Mill Playhouse, Classic Stage Company, Portland Center Stage, Olney Theatre Center, Playmakers Repertory Company, Prospect Theatre Company, Access, The Pearl, and Manhattan Theater Club. He will soon be directing world premieres of Keiko Green's You are Cordially Invited to the End of the World! at South Coast Rep, Deepak Kumar's House of India at The Old Globe, John Anthony Loffredo's Frou Frou at Boston Court Pasadena, and Julia Riew's ENDLESS in Korea. www.zialikhan.com www.ishikamuchhal.com/a-qissaa-with-ishika