East West Players and Hypokrit Live Arts Unveil Cast and Creative Team for Jaclyn Backhaus’ WIVES, Premiering October 2026 in Los Angeles with Pay-What-You-Will Tickets
LOS ANGELES, CA | September 8, 2026
(L-R) actors Rachna Khatau, E.M. Davis, Arasha, and Parvesh Cheena.
East West Players (EWP), the nation’s largest and longest-running Asian American theater, launches its 61st mainstage season with the Southern California premiere of Jaclyn Backhaus’ uproarious comedy WIVES, in co-production with Hypokrit Live Arts, the theater division of Hypokrit Productions.The principal cast includes Rachna Khatau (Disney’s Bizaardvark), E.M. Davis (CYRANO DE BERGERAC at Pasadena Playhouse), Arasha (Smosh on YouTube),and Parvesh Cheena (The CW’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend), with understudies Pallavi Srinivasan, Vanathi Sundararaman,and Kapil Kanagasabai. The lead creative team for WIVES includes Director Arpita Mukherjee, Scenic Designer Yoon Bae, Lighting Designer Pablo Santiago, Sound Designer Andrea Almond, Costume Designer Samantha Jones, Properties Designer Rye Mandel, Hair & Make-Up Designer Yoko Haitz, and Stage Manager Jasmine Leung. Laura Luckenbaugh, Rahul Chittella and Kyle Rosenberg produce for Hypokrit Live Arts.
“WIVES is exactly the kind of bold, imaginative new work I see leading East West Players into our next sixty years,” says EWP Artistic Director Lily Tung Crystal. “By championing stories like this, we’re not only honoring our legacy as a home for the nation’s foremost Asian American theatremakers; we’re actively shaping the future of our stage and our community. This fresh, feminist production is a clear statement of what EWP stands for and where we’re headed. Additionally, we’re thrilled to be working with Arpita again, collaborating with Hypokrit, and deepening our connection to South Asian American communities across Los Angeles.”
At a moment when marginalized voices are changing the national conversation, Jaclyn Backhaus’s WIVES feels both sharply relevant and deeply funny. Featuring a primarily South Asian and South Asian American cast, this inventive comedy whisks audiences from 16th-century France to 1920s India and 1960s Idaho; offering witty, moving glimpses at history’s so-called great men through the eyes of the women at their sides. In 2026, its themes of visibility, solidarity, and rewriting the narrative resonate more than ever, especially as South Asian American women have become increasingly visible in both national and local Los Angeles politics. WIVES doesn’t just revisit the past, it upends it, revealing history as a tapestry woven by many hands, not just the few who usually claim the spotlight.
“This play offers its actors the opportunity to time travel, to play many characters, and to ultimately ask the question of what it means to be able to be fully seen for who they are, rather than who society supposes them to be,” says playwright Jaclyn Backhaus. “It is a play about how women might support each other in a world run by tyrant men, a play about how community is built by sharing abundance in the face of scarcity.”
Backhaus, a playwright, screenwriter, and educator from Phoenix, Arizona, is known for acclaimed works including MEN ON BOATS, OUT OF TIME, INDIA PALE ALE, and YOU ON THE MOORS NOW.Her plays have premiered at Playwrights Horizons and major theaters across the US. She is a New Dramatists resident playwright, a core member of The Kilroys, and co-founder of Fresh Ground Pepper NYC. WIVEShad its world premiere Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons in September 2019.WIVES director Arpita Mukherjee is a New York-based director and writer, recently on Broadway as resident director of THE KITE RUNNER. She has directed at Geffen Playhouse, San Diego Rep, East West Players, and Next Door @ New York Theatre Workshop, and co-wrote the book for MONSOON WEDDING, THE MUSICAL (St. Ann’s Warehouse). Her film work includes Running (with Danny Pudi, co-produced with EWP) and the Disney+ Hotstar film Gulmohar. Arpita has developed projects with Netflix, AMC, and WIIP, and is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Hypokrit.
“Jaclyn Backhaus’s WIVES is the audacious and irreverent storytelling event the world needs right now. The play will have you not only questioning how history was written, but dare you to imagine a new form entirely. Insanely theatrical and side-splittingly funny, this is the kind of craveable drama that will keep you coming back for more. ” said director and Hypokrit Live Arts Artistic Director Arpita Mukherjee.
“We are honored to be joining forces with EAST WEST PLAYERS, a company whose long history of championing Asian American voices lit the way for Hypokrit’s own work across film, TV, and theater. And together, we’re ready to invite the entire LA community into the experience that is WIVES. Don’t miss the party-come join us!”
EWP is also redefining how audiences access theater. This season, single tickets for every show are available on a Pay-What-You-Will basis, with tiered pricing starting at $15 to welcome all. Audience members who are able to purchase tickets at market value are encouraged to support EWP’s work at a higher level. In addition, EWP is launching the Emerging Artist Membership, a free program for theatergoers ages 18–35, which guarantees $20 orchestra seats for members and a guest of any age. By lowering barriers and investing in the next generation, EWP is opening its doors wider than ever.
Recognized in 2020 by the Ford Foundation as one of America’s Cultural Treasures, East West Players continues its groundbreaking role as a catalyst for cultural change in its milestone 61st season. WIVES will be followed by KRISTINA WONG #FOODBANKINFLUENCER, written and performed by Pulitzer Prize Finalist Kristina Wong and directed by Jessica Hanna, premiering in February 2027. In May 2027, East West Players will launch a bi-annual New Works Festival, championing bold plays and musicals that will shape the future of the Asian American theatre canon and offering artists and audiences a vibrant hub for new theatrical work. The inaugural festival will feature the readings of Amanda L. Andrei’sREDPOINT MY HEART (winner of EWP’s 2028 Sports Play Commission), Kevin Y. Wong’s SOFT MAGICAL TOFU BOY(S), and a new play or musical by an Asian American, Pacific Islander, or Native Hawai’ian trans or gender non-conforming writer as part of the Trans History Project, in collaboration with Baltimore Center Stage and Breaking The Binary. The 2026–2027 Theatre for Youth touring production, WHEN YURI MET MALCOLM by Rosie Narasaki and directed by Khalif J. Gillett, will bring performances to schools and communities across Southern California through June 2027.
East West Players’ 61st Anniversary Season is dedicated to the memory of EWP Board Chair Emeritus Randall Tamura.
WIVES is sponsored in part by Rose Chan Loui & Warren Loui, Nayan Shah & Ken Foster, and Tom Stempel. Season 61 programming at East West Players is supported in part by NBCUniversal and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Department of Arts and Culture. East West Players is a recipient of the 2026 THRIVE! Grant, funded by the Mark Edelman Theater Fund and administered by Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for theatre leading for a just and thriving theatre ecology.
Calendar Information
WIVES runs October 8, 2026 - November 1, 2026, with all performances held at the David Henry Hwang Theater in the Union Center for the Arts, 120 Judge John Aiso Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012, in historic Little Tokyo. First Preview takes place October 8, 2026. The Opening Night premiere is October 11, 2026. Closing Night is currently November 1, 2026. Performance times: Thursdays (previews only), Fridays, and select Mondays at 7:30 PM; Saturday nights at 8pm; Saturday matinees at 2 PM; Sunday performances at 5 PM. All Saturday 2 PM shows are Masked Matinees, designed for patrons who prefer a fully masked environment. Performance dates and details are subject to change.
East West Players 61st Anniversary Season Memberships and single tickets to WIVES are available online at eastwestplayers.org or by calling (213) 625-7000. Single tickets to WIVES are available on a Pay-What-You-Will basis, with Orchestra starting at $25 and Balcony starting at $15. Group sales are available through a reservation with the Box Office, contact boxoffice@eastwestplayers.org. For the latest season updates, visit www.eastwestplayers.org.
About East West Players
East West Players (EWP), the largest producing organization of Asian American artistic work, was founded in 1965, at a time when Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) faced limited or no opportunities to see their experiences reflected outside of stereotypical and demeaning caricatures in the American landscape. EWP not only ensures that AAPI stories are told, but works to increase access, inclusion, and representation in entertainment and media. Designated by the Ford Foundation as one of America’s Cultural Treasures in 2020, EWP continues its groundbreaking work through defining and expanding the representation and stories of the AAPI community.
East West Players is supported in part by the Perenchio Foundation, Dwight Stuart Youth Fund, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, City of Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and many other generous foundations, companies, and individuals.
About Hypokrit Live Arts
Hypokrit Live Arts is committed to fundamentally disrupting American theater—making the arts more equitable, relevant, and accessible.
We develop work exclusively by Global Majority artists, with a focus on artists of South Asian descent.
Through radical hospitality, we welcome audiences too often overlooked into live experiences that illuminate, challenge, and entertain.
We foster partnerships in New York, across the country, and internationally to present work that crosses borders, languages, and artistic forms.
Hypokrit Live Arts is the theater arm of Hypokrit, a New York City-based company spanning film, TV, theater, and digital-first content.
