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The latest creation from TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s developmental wing is a brain-buzzing puzzle of class, bias and work in the 21st century. What’s amazing is that it also manages to be funny.
Geetha Reddy’s “The Employee Dharma Handbook,” which was developed in part through the company’s 2025 New Works Festival, opens TheatreWorks’ 56th season.
The action begins with every employee’s nightmare: a visit from HR. Val (Kathryn Smith-McGlynn) checks in with aerospace engineer Leela (Megan Suri). Leela’s first thought is, ‘Oh God, what have I done wrong?’ Not that she has; from the start, it’s obvious that Leela is doing an excellent job. Managing a project designed to explore the moons of Jupiter, Leela is clearly on top of every last detail. (It’s also clear that playwright Reddy has done detailed research on rocket-launch jargon.)
In fact, Val is checking in on Leela’s frame of mind. Rumor has it that being bypassed for a promotion has left Leela a little bitter. Val encourages her to be candid, and where they land is in a troublesome briar patch. Leela suspects that her non-promotion might have been affected by the Indian caste system.
Her doctor parents recently revealed that they hail from the Dalit caste, infamously known as “the untouchables.” Though her thoroughly American upbringing was designed to separate her from things like this, she has recently discovered that Krish, the director who made the decision on the promotion, hails from the Brahmins, the topmost caste.
From there the play is like a mystery where the detective is a human resources director. An interesting wild card is that Val is a Black woman surrounded by Indian employees.
In the end, what makes this a successful play is the humanity of its characters. The shadow of caste throws them all into conflict, but there are many other, more personal reasons, for their decisions and behavior.
Krish (Kapil Talwalkar), the director, initially responds to Val’s questions defensively. Later, he displays a real concern that he might be vulnerable to at least the subconscious effects of his ancestry (or at least to the influence of his parents). Baasu (Kunal Dudheker), the man who won the promotion, is unexpectedly open to the idea that Leela is just as qualified as he, and also has more seniority. The founder of the company, C.K. (Ranjita Chakravarty), understands Leela’s concerns, but stresses that they are close to their launch date, and any changes in staff might imperil the future of the company.
The laughter isn’t uproarious, but more gentle and thoughtful. Val and Leela get into a comic debate over which of their ancestries contains more suffering. Krish and Baasu keep arguing in Hindi, like a bickering couple trying to keep secrets from their monolingual friends.
Director Snehal Desai does fine work with an exceedingly talented cast. Chakravarty was born to play brassy women, but in some ways her fearsome CEO is surprisingly emotional and vulnerable. Dudheker plays Baasu with agile facial expressions and excellent physical humor, especially when Krish asks him to sit but can only offer him an exercise ball.
Talwalkar gives Krish a quiet intensity that at first paints him with suspicion, but it’s actually the opposite. He seems weighed down by his responsibilities, the many lives that he holds in his hands. His need to do what is absolutely right is almost self-flagellating, his initial hardness actually a product of his integrity.
Leela is definitely the straw that stirs the drink, and Suri does an amazing job of balancing her nerdy tomboyishness and diamond-sharp intelligence. All while suffering through a truckload of ancestral and Millennial self-doubt.
As the outside observer and calm center, Smith-McGlynn is a spark plug, playing Val as an extreme empath who has to balance the needs of employees and company alike, all while navigating a culture she doesn’t entirely understand. She brings a tremendous amount of energy, while also allowing Val a few funny moments of frustration and exhaustion.
It also makes one suddenly aware of other caste-like discrimination in our daily lives: alma mater elitism, colorism and the racial profiling of ICE detainees.
Wilson Chin’s set is a meticulous rendering of an aerospace clean room that morphs nicely into offices, nightclubs, even a glorious wedding site. Lisa Misako Claybaugh designed a gorgeous wedding gown for the bride and a dazzling wrap for Val that got its own applause (Smith-McGlynn gave a splendid aw-shucks reaction, and Baasu later complains, “cultural appropriation!”) I also enjoyed the way Amith Chandrashaker used lighting design to portray the nightclub scene.
TheatreWorks presents ‘The Employee Dharma Handbook’ through Aug. 2, at the Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Tickets are $54-$104. 877-662-8978 or theatreworks.org.
