Rishi Varma’s Sulfur Bottom to Make Off-Broadway Debut at The Theater Center

 Rishi Varma’s Sulfur Bottom to Make Off-Broadway Debut at The Theater Center

Sulfur Bottom, a new eco-gothic play by Rishi Varma, will debut Off-Broadway at The Jerry Orbach Theater at The Theater Center (210 West 50th Street) with previews on August 13 and August 16. Opening night is scheduled for August 20. The production will run on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays at 1:00 p.m.

Written by Varma and directed by Megumi Nakamura, Sulfur Bottom is a surreal and darkly comic family drama set against the backdrop of environmental collapse. The play unfolds inside a decaying home at the edge of industrial sprawl, where pollution seeps into every corner of domestic life and a talking whale might make more sense than reality itself.

Across 90 minutes, Varma’s script explores 40 years in the life of one family navigating loss, denial, and survival in a poisoned world. The production blends sharply observed dialogue, moments of absurdity, and striking visual metaphors to reflect the long, quiet violence of ecological ruin.

“I wrote this play because I kept thinking about what it means to stay—even when the place you love and call home is trying to kill you,” said Varma. “When the water’s toxic and the walls are crumbling, a talking whale doesn’t feel that far off. The surreal is the only part that makes any sense.”

Sulfur Bottom marks Varma’s Off-Broadway debut. A New York–based playwright, screenwriter, actor, and producer, his previous work has appeared at Theaterlab and Urban Stages. A graduate of Northwestern University’s playwriting program, Varma’s writing is known for blending the comedic and the unsettling, often drawing from the absurd to make sense of the deeply human.

Outside the theater, he teaches SCUBA diving in New York City and shares daily life with his dog—“a steadfast companion who remains unimpressed by résumés or curtain calls.”

For more on Varma’s work, visit www.rishivarma.com or follow him on Instagram: @sirrishi.

The production is directed by Megumi Nakamura (they/she), a Brooklyn-based director and actor originally from San Francisco. Nakamura recently directed the world premiere of Anne Frank in Mt. Vernon, OH by Isaiah Stavchansky at JACK in Brooklyn. This summer, they will also helm the regional premiere of their original musical The Twelfth Night Show, co-written with Jacob Brandt, at Weston Theater Company in Vermont. Nakamura serves as the resident Associate Director of the Lyrics & Lyricists series (2022–2025) and has worked on more than ten productions with a range of acclaimed directors. As an actor, they most recently appeared on Broadway in Amy Herzog’s Mary Jane at Manhattan Theatre Club.

Casting and additional production details for Sulfur Bottom will be announced in the coming weeks. The run is currently open-ended.