Hypokrit Artists

The team at Hypokrit encourages big, bold ideas and new voices and perspectives at every stage of creation, which leads to an approachable and exciting collaborative process. 'Elements of Change', which debuted at UN Climate Change Week, is a play that was created with everyone in the room embracing new theatrical possibilities. Hypokrit also holds the gate wide open to stories that would have normally not been seen and ensures that these stories are told in the most authentic way possible.

Working with Arpita Mukherjee, Artistic Director of Hypokrit Theatre, has changed the trajectory of our show MAYA. She is thoughtful, insightful and truthful, and not afraid to push us to our limits in service of the story. We have discovered many moments of the show under her directorial eye, and we're thankful that she is running this organization to promote South Asian work

When I first met with the team at Hypokrit I immediately connected with their creative vibe and company mission. And over the past year I've been fortunate to collaborate with them. We have rehearsed in dance studios, a friend's office, a friend's apartment, a hotel lobby, an Indian restaurant, the F train, many coffee shops, walks around the city and countless hours on the phone and google docs. Despite the non-traditional development process, they have been consistently thoughtful and willing to offer gentle guidance to help me work through a personal story. They put in the time to figure it out and they have your back when you're feeling stuck. It's been liberating for me as an artist and I'm thankful I found them.

Working with the ‘Hypokrit’ team on Bollywood Kitchen was such an amazing and beautiful experience. Before we started working with them, we had so many questions about how we could execute our vision and present our creative ideas in the best way possible. They helped us sort out through everything, prioritize what the core was and made it possible to do a reading with all the elements we imagined! The best part about working with them was the ‘can do’ attitude towards anything we felt was core to the project and finding some super creative way to make it happen, however crazy the idea. They created a safe space to explore our ideas and the team is so awesome to work with.

As someone who is new to the world of musical theater, I felt a bit intimidated and lost when developing my show “Bollywood Kitchen.” But once I connected with Hypokrit, it was like I found my safe space. From day one, their attitude has always been, “What do you need?” and “Sure, let’s try that! Why not?” I’m incredibly grateful and excited to be creating work with such a generous, smart, and dedicated team.

Hypokrit is unique in that they are one of the few companies out there that tell stories that don't fall in the mainstream. It is a place where everyone, regardless of age, sex, or race, is not only welcome, but can be seen, have their voices heard, and their stories told. Hypokrit is a truly special, one of a kind place. As an original company member, I am honored to be a part of Hypokrit and I look forward to seeing what they do next.

I met Arpita many years ago when she was launching her maiden venture and decided to take a chance on her and she decided to invest in me. Together we wrote a pretty kick ass play called How to Succeed as An Ethnically Ambiguous Actor which had many iterations and culminated in an off-broadway run at the Castillo Theater. In this moment of disruption in our lives I encourage you all to stay creative to stay inspired to keep Hypokrit a family, to keep it a community, because only community will help build theater, without community you will not be able to build theater. So let's go as a community forward!

My relationship to Hypokrit started with politics—Arpita and I connected over a shared desire to see South Asian-Americans on stage in New York City.  As I learned about the company I was moved by Hypokrit’s commitment to champion under-represented voices in theater and wanted to become part of the family.  Over the past several years, we have been developing my musical In A Sea of Faces, which we have reconceived as an immigrant parable and staged with a cast of all people of color.  Hypokrit has presented my work at Lincoln Center, the Women’s Project and the Player’s Theater in the West Village and we have done residencies with the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and the Roundabout.  I even jumped in to mix the NYTW workshop of “Eh Dah.”  Hypokrit is an all-hands-on-deck collective driven to make great work, always directed towards social progress.  I’m proud to have been part of the team.

My favorite thing about working with Hypokrit is the room that this company makes when developing new work. It takes a conscious effort to open a creative space to everyone, regardless of background or identity, and it goes beyond just the stories we choose to develop. A Hypokrit room is inclusive and open at every level, from the production assistant to the cast to the audience. This is done without fanfare or self-congratulation — it's simply done. As a result, ego is checked at the door and the work takes central focus. This makes the best kind of creative feedback loop — one where viewpoints differ, horizons broaden, art deepens, and audiences expand.