Janani Sreenivasan (she/her) is a writer, director, actor, composer, and musician originally from Corvallis, Oregon. Her parents, Vijayalakshmi (“Viji”) and Mahalingam (“Sreeni”), are from Tamil Nadu in India and emigrated to the U.S. in the 1970s.

Janani has been involved with art since her early training as a classical violinist (both solo and orchestral repertoire) and pianist. In 2006, while earning an M.F.A. in nonfiction at the University of Iowa, she began directing sketch comedy at No Shame Theatre. In NYC, she has directed for the Tank's Rule of 7x7 and the Chain Theatre’s One-Act Festival, as well as acting with Rule of 7x7, Manhattan Repertory, WOW Café Theatre, and Living Room Theater. She has placed short films in the L.A. Comedy Festival and the Iron Mule Short Film Festival (Audience Award) and co-founded the long-running NYC improv band The Vigilante with Rebecca Vigil. Her jokes have been featured in Reductress and The New Yorker. Her short play "Get Leo" depicted her hunger for Leonardo DiCaprio to portray her onstage and was staged and published by the Bechdel Group.

Janani’s musical background continues to inform her artmaking — she is a beginning conducting student with Mark Shapiro through Juillard’s Extension division, and recently directed Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at Under St. Marks Theatre in the East Village. In July 2024 she will direct William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the same venue — follow us on Instagram to see the process.