Himanshu Sitlani is a Dora-nominated playwright and performer, originally from Mumbai, India. Himanshu has been deeply involved in supporting the creative arts in Canada. He currently serves as the Managing Director at Native Earth Performing Arts, while also pursuing his goal of building a bridge between creative artists in Canada and India. Foraying his way into theatre as an actor, he progressed on to other creative aspects and worked as a Stage Manager and Producer over the years with QTP and Akvarious. He co-founded Le Chayim Theatre Productions in Mumbai in 2006 where he eventually made his directorial debut in 2013. Since immigrating to Toronto, Himanshu’s been immersed in supporting the creative arts, working as the Managing Director at Native Earth Performing Arts, while penning down his ideas towards his goal of creating a bridge between creative artists in Canada and India. He eventually co-founded Nautanki Bazaar in 2019, a South Asian Theatre Company that focuses on South Asian art and artists.
In 2021, he wrote and performed in the virtual show Stories of a Dish that was presented at the Mississauga Multilingual Fringe Festival, The Edinburgh Fringe, The Little Lion Theatre Festival in London UK, The Tata Literature Live Festival in Mumbai India and the Next Stage Theatre Festival in Toronto. In April 2022, he co-wrote and performed in An IMM-Permanent Resident as part of Why Not Theatre’s RISER Toronto at the Theatre Centre which got nominated for 5 Dora Awards in the Independent Category.