Tara Ahmadinejad ’14 Directs ‘Lunch Bunch’

Directing alumna Tara Ahmadinejad ’14 directs Lunch Bunch, co-produced by The Play Company (“PlayCo”) and Clubbed Thumb, at 122CC. Performances began on March 15, and the show officially opened on March 28, 2023. Lunch Bunch runs through April 8, 2023. 

Lunch Bunch, written by Sarah Einspanier, follows seven public defenders on their quest for the perfect lunch—a quest that sends them in search of meaning, order, and belonging. The play was inspired by the real-life Bronx Defenders, a public defense nonprofit organization that developed a system of holistic defense that has radically changed the way that low-income individuals are represented in the justice system. Lunch Bunch celebrates the sacrifices made everyday by public defenders and explores how the examination of food can be used as a coping mechanism.

PlayCo was founded upon a three-part mission: the company seeks to empower artists to create a dynamic, uniquely global program of adventurous work, innovate and celebrate the power of live theatre, and proactively and meaningfully engage the NYC community in artistic work. The company commissions, develops, and produces new plays, both from the U.S. and around the globe. Adjunct Assistant Professor Kate Loewald is one of the founding producers of PlayCo. Clubbed Thumb focuses on commissioning, developing, and producing funny, strange, and provocative new plays by living American writers. The company frequently serves as an incubator for early career artists.

Tara Ahmadinejad is a director and co-founder of the live arts collective Piehole (Jerome Finalist 2021), with whom she has directed and co-authored boundary-pushing live art for theaters, galleries, and digital spaces, including collaborations with the LA-based Tender Claws in AR and VR: Tendar (Sundance 2018) and The Under Presents (Oculus, Sundance 2019, Emmy Finalist). Piehole’s recent work includes Christmas Mountain, a media installation at WNYC’s The Greene Space, and Disclaimer (Drama League Award Nominee, NYC Women’s Fund), which was written and performed by Ahmadinejad and premiered at The Public’s Under the Radar Festival in 2021. Other recent theatre directing includes Mourning // Morning by Gelsey Bell (Prototype Festival, HERE Arts Center); and digital collaborations with Satoko Ichihara (Japan Society), Eliza Bent (New Georges), Rinne Groff (Clubbed Thumb), and Scarlett Kim (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Ahmadinejad is a Resident Futurist at Pig Iron, a NYTW Usual Suspect, and a New Georges Affiliated Artist.

Tickets for Lunch Bunch can be purchased here.