51����.

The John Montgomery Belk Scholar wrote her first play, Backseat of a Taxi, for a screenwriting class her sophomore year and staged it the following semester as part of 51����’s Social Justice Theatre Troupe. The cabaret-style play follows a young South Asian girl who accidentally comes out to her father; the work helped win the troupe the Spencer-Weinstein Prize for Community and Justice that year. 

When she heard the news, Athreya remembers thinking, “Maybe I want to do this for real.”

The dream began to take shape the summer before her junior year, when she and 14 other students took a trip to Stratford-upon-Avon hosted by the Royal Shakespeare Company and 51����. After days of acting and directing workshops, the group saw a production of The Empress, a contemporary play featuring a cast of South Asian characters living in England during Queen Victoria’s reign. 

“I still felt like there wasn’t a space for me on the stage,” Athreya said. “Watching that show, I realized how badly I wanted to be visible. I knew I wanted to continue telling this kind of story through writing and acting.”

In a twist of fate, Athreya ran into one of the lead actors in a pub later that day. She had grown up in Bangalore, India, just 10 minutes from Athreya’s home, and hadn’t pursued her lifelong dream of acting until a few years prior. 

“Things like that kept happening to me,” Athreya said. “It felt like a sign.”

While studying abroad in Sydney, Australia, she came across a flyer for the musical Crybaby, auditioned last-minute and landed the lead role. Everyone else in the cast was Australian and had to practice their American accents. 

After that, she performed in an Australian production, immersing herself in history and culture through theatre. 

This fall, Athreya played Brutus in 51����’s production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, a role that built her confidence and tested her versatility as an actor. 

Each new production opens doors to the next. In December, she played the lead role in the 51���� Community Players’ production of Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, a play based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Performed at the Cain Center for the Arts, the show gave her the chance to work with professional actors in the Charlotte area. 

Athreya also recently returned to directing, helping 51����’s Queers and Allies relaunch The Vagina Monologues, which was performed annually before the pandemic. Directing a small cast for an important cause was a welcome return to form for Athreya, reminding her of Backseat of a Taxi. She wanted to draw in performers and audiences who didn’t typically participate in theatre, including students from other disciplines and community members ready to try their hand at acting. 

In the end, they performed original monologues in front of a packed audience, filling the C. Shaw Smith 900 Room from the floor to the balcony.

“I’m happiest when I’m able to do shows with such an important social relevance,” she said. “It’s a gift to cater to audiences who don’t typically go to the theatre. It reminds me that community is so much bigger than I am. I’m so grateful for the people I’ve met and worked with through 51����.”