A divorced Indian mother and her USA-born-and-raised teenage son embark on the year’s most entertaining and heartwarming road trip in Ankita Raturi’s नेहा & Neel (Neha & Neel), now guaranteeing audiences an abundance of laughs and more than a few cross-cultural insights at the Los Angeles Theatre Center.

It’s that time of the year that parents of high school juniors know only too well, time to schedule college visits, and though there are plenty of good schools within driving distance of Neha (Pia Shah) and Neel’s (Achintya Pandey) San Francisco home, like many a teen before him, the idea of moving as far away from Ma as possible has Neel and his mother heading off to Washington DC and visits to Georgetown, G.W., and Johns Hopkins.

Adding to D.C.’s allure is the fact that Neel’s cousin Arnav (Parvesh Cheena), sorry make that brother because according to Neha, “Indians don’t have cousins,” is attending grad school there.

And so what if it’ll take longer for Neha and Neel to get to Washington than it would if they were taking a direct flight. It will be an adventure to have a seven-hour layover in Chicago, right? Not only that, but by saving money on direct flight tickets, they’ll be able to see The Windy City, right?

In the meantime, there are lines to be skipped to the front of by inventing a entirely plausible if totally false reason for their rush, and no one is better at harmless fibbing than Neha.

Unfortunately, none of this subterfuge does any good once Neha and Neel are informed that not only have all of today’s flights to D.C. been canceled, tomorrow’s will likely be canceled too due to a combination of bad weather, a malfunctioning air traffic control tower, and a baggage handler strike.

And so mother and son head off in a rented car on a twelve-hour drive to our nation’ capital with plenty of inclement weather and mother-son friction ahead.

South Asian audiences may reap the benefits of understanding Neha when she or a number of supporting characters switch to Hindi, and they may appreciate the cultural specificity of Neha and Neel’s mother-son relationship, but you don’t have to be Indian to fall for Raturi’s play or the nearly twenty characters she has created.

East West Players artistic director Lily Tung Crystal aces her first local directorial gig and then some, eliciting several of the year’s most winning performances while keeping things moving lickety-split as we zigzag from one locale to another with scarcely a moment’s pause.

An extraordinary Shah takes what in lesser hands might end up nothing more than a pain in a son’s neck and makes Neha so utterly endearing, you can excuse her passive-aggressive maternal idiosyncrasies and love her almost as much as a frequently exasperated Neel so clearly does.

Professional stage debuts don’t get any more charming and disarming than 2022 UCLA grad Pandey’s charismatic star turn as Neel, a role he plays with such sincerity and authenticity, you may well forget he’s an actor playing a role and just think to yourself, “That’s Neel!”

 Scene-stealer extraordinaire Cheena completes the cast in a whopping seventeen cameo roles, each with their own distinctive voice, accent, and mannerisms, and each and every one of them an absolute delight.

Leah Ramillano’s set is as ingenious as it is pleasing to the eyes and Szu-Yun Wang’s lighting design is a vivid, vibrant treat. Costume designer Elena Flores has created just-right outfits for Neha and Neel in addition to giving each of Cheena’s characters their own distinctive look, and properties designer Naomi Kasahara provides the production with everything from suitcases to college pamphlets to Indian take-out.

Last but not least, E.E. Bradman’s expert sound design includes Bollywood tunes for Neha and Neel to sing along to, ambient noises, and more.

Ronak Gandhi, Seth Gunawardena, and Priya Mohanty are understudies.

Katie Bradley is associate director. Arnab Benerji is dramaturg. Lanae Wilks is production stage manager, Bonnie-Lynn Montaño is assistant stage manager, and May Fei is production manager.

I see a lot of World Premiere plays each year, but it’s rare for me to fall head over heels for one of them the way I have for नेहा & Neel. Simply put, this Artists at Play/Latino Theater Company collaboration is as fabulous as a new play gets.

Los Angeles Theatre Center, 514 S. Spring St., Los Angeles.
www.latinotheaterco.org

–Steven Stanley
November 9, 2025
Photos: M Palma Photography

Visit www.theatreinla.com/nowplayingrs.php for a review roundup of what’s now playing in theaters around Los Angeles.

Tags: Ankita Raturi, Artists At Play, Los Angeles Theater Review, Los Angeles Theatre Center, The Latino Theater Company