Host your own post-show discussion with friends or reflect on the play yourself with our list of discussion questions. Spoilers ahead, so be sure to save these for after you see a performance.
- Devon Avenue was and is a vital and nostalgic haven for the South Asian community in Chicago. What’s a location that’s meaningful to you, your family, or your community? What changes have you witnessed to it over time?
- Early in the play, Neeraj tells Rita, “The lotus flower is something beautiful that grows out of the mud. That’s what your Dādima [Grandmother] told me – why the lotus is so important to our food, to who we are. Because even when we Sindhis end up in the mud, we manage to grow something beautiful.” Where in the play do you see something beautiful created out of something messy? Where in your own life have you seen the same thing happen?
- Along with taste, Neeraj focuses on the way food feels like a particular place or experience. How does food evoke emotion and memory? What are some of your strongest memories related to food?
- The play is set in 2017 and during it, Luz receives her work permit through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (or ”Dreamers”) program. Both Luz and her boss Neeraj arrived in the U.S. when they were eight years old. In what ways are their immigrant stories similar and in what ways are they different?
- Neeraj and Rita differ on their opinion of what makes food Sindhi. For Neeraj, honoring the past means recreating his family's food. Rita seeks to embody the spirit of survival and adaptation of her predecessors through her cooking. How do tradition and spirit combine to create culture? Can culture be redefined?
- Sindhu exclaims to her father during a big fight: “Why am I the one acting like a parent? Why am I still trying to take care of you when it should be the other way around? Why do you keep choosing this restaurant over and over again when it is literally killing you?” What person or thing is each character prioritizing over all other responsibilities? What do you think they should be prioritizing instead?
- Neeraj’s wife and Rita and Sindhu’s mother, Pooja, though dead for ten years, still has a major presence in the play. In what ways are the characters still coping with their grief and what growth do you notice over the course of the play?
- Neeraj says to his brother-in-law Adil, a fellow immigrant: “This country wants us to forget. They want us to forget, in order to move forward.” Would you agree with the idea that valuing tradition and embracing progress are at odds? Why or why not?
- If you were in Rita’s shoes, would you have accepted Neeraj’s offer to run Dhaba Canteen, or would you have struck out on your own like Rita ultimately decides to? Why?
