OUR TEAM
Arun
Gupta
Team QTP/ Thespo
Hardik
Barot
Team QTP
QUASAR THAKORE PADAMSEE
Artistic Director
Quasar is a theatre-holic and lover of all things theatrical. Since 1999, he has directed and produced over 25 plays with QTP; including Every Brilliant Thing, A Peasant of El Salvador, Project S.T.R.I.P., So Many Socks, Minorities and many others about contemporary social concerns. Internationally he has worked on Tim Supple’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and the aerial drama Mind Walking. He is a founding member of Thespo - a youth theatre movement. And at present, he is also serving on the festival committee of Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest. He also works as a lighting designer, stage manager, leads workshops and is a passionate crusader for the survival of theatre in the public consciousness.
TORAL SHAH
Creative Producer
Toral first discovered theatre in college, putting props in place. Ever since then, she has been enthralled by the 'dark' side of theatre. Currently she is the Creative Producer and Production Manager at QTP and recent productions include Every Brilliant Thing, Wildtrack, The God of Carnage, Mother Courage and her Children. She enjoys her role as one of the driving forces of Thespo - a youth theatre movement that is now in its 24th year. She has also been instrumental in the building of ambitious international collaborations like The Mirror Crack'd, Gates To India Song, Nirbhaya and Maya-The Musical. However her first love remains the rehearsal room, and the magic of transforming a show from two dimensions to three.
VIVEK RAO
Executive Producer
Vivek started in the theatre while he was still in college as backstage crew for QTP's Beyond Therapy (directed by Nadir Khan), Khatijabai of Karmali Terrace (directed by Quasar), First Edition (directed by Arghya Lahiri), and Blackbird 13 (directed by Rehaan Engineer). In 2011 he joined QTP fulltime as Executive Producer. In addition to the in-house productions he was the line producer on Sing India Sing (Directed by Nadir Khan) for Aadyam. He has orchestrated tours of international shows in India like HeLa (UK), All The Rage (USA), and Going Viral (UK). He acts as a mentor to Thespo – A Youth Theatre Community. He is also part of the core team that is involved in running Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest. Vivek has also produced and managed several digital webinars and festivals at QTP since 2020.
ARGHYA LAHIRI
Partner
Arghya Lahiri has worked in the theatre for over twenty years, as a writer, director, and lighting designer. He is also one of the founder members of QTP Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Arghya’s directorial credits include: The Accidental Death of an Anarchist, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, The Birthday Party, Fireface (with Pushan Kripalani), Crab, Hayavadana (with Pushan Kripalani), Wildtrack, which he also wrote, Iron, and, most recently, Swallow. His lighting credits include: Flowers, Blackbird 13, Pune Highway, A Number, Creeper, Manaskhore, Project S.T.R.I.P., Djinns of Eidgah, Ila, I don’t like it/As you like it, Ladies’ Sangeet, 12 Angry Jurors, 777, Notes on Chai, Sing India Sing, and The Father, amongst others. He has over a hundred productions to his credit, in addition to live events and festivals. He is also a filmmaker and a writer.
CHRISTOPHER SAMUEL
Partner
Chris Samuel is a co-founder of Thespo (India’s largest youth theatre community), founding member of QTP, and former theatre actor and producer. Chris is also a global communications and public affairs leader with broad-based sustainability and marketing experience in the food [U.S. Soy, Bayer, Monsanto], consumer goods [P&G, J&J], industrial [Siemens] and non-profit [The Nature Conservancy] sectors. His global award-winning work includes the Ragan Global Communications Campaign Award for Sustainable U.S. Soy, Cannes Lion for P&G’s Always/Whisper campaign, Bayer/Monsanto awards for Corporate Reputation, Global Marketing Excellence, Public Policy and Market Access, and Sustainability. He has engaged diverse stakeholders at the Consumer Goods Forum, Consumer Brands Association,
CRISPRCon, World Economic Forum, World Business Council for Sustainable Development, United Nation's Food Systems Summit, and FAO Rome, among others. He cares deeply about nutrition / zero hunger, and youth access to the arts & sports. He has lived in India, Tanzania, Singapore and the U.S. Chris currently lives in Chicago with his wife – Michelle, their 2 kids - Gavriel and Ava.
NADIR KHAN
Partner
Nadir is an Indian director, actor, producer and radio professional who has been part of the theatre industry in India since 1998. He is a partner and co-founder of QTP Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and The Industrial Theatre Co. His most recent directorial credits include A Few Good Men (Aadyam – Season 5), Sing India Sing – An Original Indian Musical (Aadyam – Season 4), Anand Express (Aadyam – Season 3), Twelve Angry Jurors (Aadyam – Season 2), The God of Carnage (Aadyam – Season 1). Nadir has been involved with Audio Drama since 2001 and has produced, cast and acted in numerous award-winning radio productions with Goldhawk Productions Ltd., including Tumanbay - Series 1, 2, 3 & 4, A Fine Balance, Undercover Mumbai – Series 1, 2 & 3, A Suitable Boy and Q&A, to name a few. He has also been working in the radio industry in Mumbai for over 20 years as a disc jockey, programmer, producer and voice-over professional.
SRISHTI RAY
Associate Producer
Srishti is passionate about all performing arts - music, dance and theatre. Armed with a masters degree in Arts Management from Lancaster University, UK (2019), she is presently an Associate Producer with the Bombay based theatre company QTP Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. She has worked on QTP productions such as Lunch Girls (2020), Mother Courage & Her Children (2017) and White Rabbit, Red Rabbit (2016) as well as NCPA's The Mirror Crack'd (2020), in various capacities. She has also led Thespo, QTP's youth theatre initiative, as a Fellow (2016-2018), and is now an active and dedicated mentor to the current Thespo Fellows and Coordinators.
RACHIT KHETAN
Associate Producer
Rachit is a technical manager, lighting operator and production manager and has worked on numerous productions and live events for the past 10 years. He currently is an Associate Producer with the Bombay-based theatre company QTP. His most recent productions include Khatijabai of Karmali Terrace, A Peasant of El Salvador, Every Brilliant Thing. He also led Thespo (a youth theatre community) in 2017 & 2018 and since then has been an integral part of the team as a mentor. In the last year, he has been the technical manager on the digital editions of QTP’s Every Brilliant Thing and Lunch Girls; two digital festivals - Literature Live! and Thespo (2020 & 21 edition); a digital conference - The Love, Sex & Data Conference 2021 and various other digital performances and conversations. Inspired by performance, entertainment and technology, Rachit enjoys experimenting with and exploring these in his day-to-day work.