Episode Twelve of the PAD pod features actor, director, producer, writer, and teacher Sanjit De Silva. Sanjit shares his incredible story about arriving in the U.S. as an immigrant from Sri Lanka and finding his way to WashU where he double majored in Biology and Drama with a minor in Film Studies. While still at WashU, his film study started with an internship at Spike Lee's company 40 Acres and a Mule where Sanjit was a PA on films Summer of Sam and Man on the Moon. He went on to receive an MFA from NYU’s prestigious Graduate Acting Program and followed that with roles both on Broadway in War Horse and Off-Broadway with some of the most acclaimed directors in the world of theatre. He wrote, starred and co-directed the short film Time After and directed and produced the short film Tea Time. His film and television credits are extensive and include roles in The Girl is in Trouble (with Spike Lee), The Company Men, and American Desi (film) and Evil, Blindspot, Madam Secretary, Blue Bloods, The Good Wife, Law & Order, and New Amsterdam (television). He’s also written four plays with wife Deepa Purohit and is the founder of SilvaDollar Films which exists "to create and produce stories about the American experience that aren’t seen in the mainstream". Do not miss this insightful interview with the amazing Sanjit De Silva!

On this episode, Rob welcomes alum Jack Isaac Pryor (they/them). Jack is a writer, theater artist, and performance studies scholar specializing in experimental forms; queer, trans, and feminist theories and methods; and the politics of time. As an Associate Professor of Theater at Penn State-Abington, Dr. Pryor specializes in experimental performance and queer, trans, and feminist theories and methods and teaches courses that combine studio-based practice with the rigorous study of social history and critical theory. Their first book, Time Slips: Queer Temporalities, Contemporary Performance, and the Hole of History (Northwestern University Press), examines the capacity of performance to revise histories of racialized and gendered violence, as well as to reveal queer and transgender futures not determined by past harm. The book also experiments with form, moving between academic prose and creative nonfiction. Dr. Pryor received their BA in Performing Arts from Washington University in St. Louis and MA and PhD in Theater from the University of Texas at Austin (designated emphasis in Performance as Public Practice), earning Doctoral Portfolio Certificates in both Cultural Studies and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies.

Episode number TEN of the #PADPod is already upon us and features talented multidisciplinary actor, musician, illustrator, and animator Manik Choksi. The son of immigrants, Manik grew up in St. Louis and started a career onstage completely by accident via a scheduling error by a high school registrar. Manik went on to study Drama at #WashU and Julliard and credits many of his former PAD professors and his involvement in student groups like All-Student Theatre and Mama’s Pot Roast (improv) with inspiring him to pursue a career in the arts. Manik now boasts a robust career that includes television guest and recurring roles for shows like New Amsterdam and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt on NBC, CBS, HBO, and Netflix as well as NYC theatre work both on and off Broadway including being a member of the original cast in the role of Dolokhov in Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. Manik is also a talented musician, songwriter, animator, and illustrator! He can do it all. He is also currently a commissioned artist at Ars Nova and creating on an epic concert-based adaptation of The Ramayan. Rob samples a song he wrote called ‘The Vow’ from The Ramayan at the end of the podcast so do not miss this episode!