Natasha Kathi-Chandra
Artistic Director & Joint CEO
Natasha is an international theatre director and writer based in London, UK and Hyderabad, India. She has also worked as a curator, facilitator, casting director and dramaturg over her career. She has been working as Tara Theatre’s Associate Director since 2022 after being engaged with the theatre as a freelancer in 2021.
In 2008 she founded a youth theatre company- Ingenium Dramatics in Hyderabad, India to encourage young people to explore the performing arts both on and off stage leading the company as Artistic Director for five years. With Ingenium, she pioneered large scale West End style theatre in the city, identifying talent and launching many careers for award winning actors and other creatives. Some of her productions include productions of The Lion King, Les Misérables as well as original and adapted works such as Alexander, Rising of The Great and Checkmate.
In London, she founded an arts company, Namashkar with the aim of challenging and changing narratives and roles for South Asian women both represented on stage and behind the scenes. With Namashkar, she wrote and directed The Infinite Line between Dating and Dying (White Bear & Etcetera Theatre) and Om Shanti F*ck (Arcola, Battersea Arts Centre, Camden People’s Theatre). She is published as a writer in Titiola Dawudu x Tamasha Theatre’s Hear Me Now Monologues (volume II) and the LIT anthology edited by Rikki Beadle-Blair. Her other credits as a director include DNA (Tara Theatre), Artists Make Space (Tara, Birmingham Rep, Contact), It kind of looks like a Doughnut (Curve x Pleasance), 4 Stages (Bread & Roses), Sad about the Cows (Tristan Bates), The Wolves (London College of Music), Angels in America (Fourth Monkey). Credits as Associate Director include East is East (National, Birmingham Rep, Chichester Festival Theatre) and award winning AMMA (Tara).
Alongside this, Natasha loves engaging with emerging artists, young people and the community. She has been leading the community work at Tara Theatre and was instrumental in the organisation being awarded Theatre of Sanctuary in 2023. She also conceptualised, led & facilitated the launch of Tara Theatre’s Young Company and has developed and facilitated the Creative Learning Program at Park Theatre (2014-2021). She has co-directed for Kali Theatre having worked on their Discover Program (2019 &; 2022) and has assistant directing credits from Stratford East, Royal Court and National Theatre.