Prayas co-founder Amit Ohdedar and executive director Rishabh Kapoor joined RNZ’s First Up this morning to talk about Mama Moo — and about 21 years of telling South Asian stories on Auckland stages.
Amit talked about why Prayas was started — and why it still matters:
“The subcontinent culture was looked at through the lens of Bollywood and a bit of butter chicken and some mystic mysteries of Indian gurus — whereas culturally, India is a very diverse and rich cultural heritage of various kinds, much like Europe. We thought through the medium of theatre we could connect with the wider community.”
— Amit Ohdedar
Rishabh explained what makes Mama Moo different from anything Prayas has done before:
“It’s a genre we haven’t hit before — it’s a bit of an absurdist dark comedy, and it has some messaging behind the scenes as well. One of the motivations for selecting this play is how Auckland’s demography has changed dramatically in the last 10 years, and this story is based on the lived experience of the diaspora.”
— Rishabh Kapoor
The play is written by Nimish Tanna, an emerging writer whose work is gaining attention internationally, and will be directed by Margaret Mary Hollins — an award-winning director and long-time Prayas supporter.
Auditions are open — no experience needed:
“Anyone can come regardless of experience. We have people from the community — doctors, engineers, architects, lawyers — performing alongside trained professional artists.”
— Rishabh Kapoor
The interview runs about seven minutes and is well worth a listen — especially if you’re thinking about auditioning.
Auditions & Details
- 📅 First auditions: Sunday 7 June, 9:30am–12:30pm at TAPAC
- 📅 Callbacks: Sunday 14 June
- 🎭 Season: 20–26 September 2026 at TAPAC Auckland
No experience needed — and if the stage isn’t your thing, there are backstage roles too: assistant producers, stage managers, designers, and technicians.