Lavina Jadhwani is a Chicago-based director and adaptor. Favorite credits includeGruesome Playground Injuries, Much Ado About Nothing, and Yoni Ki Baat (Rasaka Theatre Company), Romeo and Juliet (Teatro Vista), Cherry Smoke (the side project), Hamlet andTwelfth Night (Oak Park Festival Theatre), and Julius Caesar (Brown Paper Box Co.). Lavina maintains relationships with Lifeline Theatre (Casting Director), Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Phil Killian Directing Fellow), Silk Road Rising (Artistic Associate), and Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Artistic Engagement Associate). She is the founder and curator of theDiverse Directors Database and The Mildly Rehearsed Players, a student-run troupe at DePaul University that performs Shakespeare based on original practices. She was named Time Out Chicago’s “Best Next Generation Stage Director” in 2013.
Lavina has received Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Phil Killian Directing Fellowship, the O’Neill/NNPN National Directors Fellowship, the Drama League’s Classical Directing Fellowship, an SDCF Observership, an Illinois Board of Higher Education Fellowship, and anLMDA Residency Award. Her adaptations include The Sitayana (a solo performance piece based on the Hindu epic, The Ramayana). VANYA (adapted from Chekhov), and Shakuntala: An East-Meets-West Love Story (adapted from Kalidasa). Details about Lavina’s writing can be found on the New Play Exchange.
As an educator, Lavina has worked with CCPA@Roosevelt University, Chicago Dramatists, Northlight Theatre Academy, NHSI at Northwestern University, Shakespeare & Company, and The Viola Project. She currently teaches and provides 1:1 coaching through Green Shirt Studio. Discounted coaching is available to recent alum of Lavina’s alma maters (Carnegie Mellon, DePaul) and to members of ALTA Chicago. If you are an artist in need, please ask about her sliding-scale rates!
Lavina is a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University (MFA, Directing), Carnegie Mellon University (BFA, Scenic Design; Masters, Arts Management) and the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy. In her spare time, she follows NFL football, consumes anything written by Aaron Sorkin, and dabbles in voiceover. Proudly represented by NV Talent.