Theater Off Broadway debut by Sameer Sheikh follows theater roles in India

Sameer Sheikh, who makes his Off Broadway debut in Abingdon Theatre Compa ny's fall production of Tom Coash's politically charged drama, ‘Cry Havoc', combines native talent with rigorous training.
A product of the young and vigorous English language theater of Bangalore, he caught the discerning eye of India's New Wave guru Naseeruddin Shah, landing a role in Shah's film ‘What If?' Sheikh's Bangalore and Mumbai theater credits include among over a dozen lead roles in India, Herb Morrison in ‘Blackbird 13' at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai, and Valere in ‘The Flying Doctor' at the Taj Residency in Bangalore.
His theater tools were forged in India but honed in New York where he took a two-year course in the Mesiner Technique. Behind his Off Broadway appearance are years of intense hard work; while taking acting and voice lessons, he works long hours in a Manhattan gym as a personal trainer and weekend evenings tending a bar. Not least of his gifts are speed at picking up accents and at actual combat.
Sheikh is the Egyptian male lover of an expat English writer (played Keith Miller) living in Cairo in the shadow of religious intolerance and political dictatorship, confronting timeless issues that are particularly relevant today. ‘Cry Havoc,' the title of the play, has Shakespearean echoes; the words are a military command unleashing soldiers to go berserk, freed from any rules of war, licensed to mindless rape, pillage and destruction.
Merrill, who appeared in Irish Repertory Theatre's Beowulf and The Bells of Christmas in Manhattan, will play Nicholas Field, the British ex-pat. Sheikh will play Mohammed El-Qahira.
Cry Havoc will run Oct. 20-Nov. 11 in the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre.
The drama had its world premiere in 2003 in a production by Philadelphia's InterAct Theatre Company.
"Surrounded by poverty, religious fundamentalism and political repression, these educated, morally-centered yet disenfranchised men pursue divergent paths toward escape and extremism," according to earlier InterAct notes.
S ameer Sheikh, who makes his Off Broad- way debut in Abingdon Theatre Compa- ny's fall production of Tom Coash's politically charged drama, ‘Cry Havoc', combines native talent with rigorous training. A product of the young and vigorous Eng- lish language theater of Bangalore, he caught the discerning eye of India's New Wave guru Naseeruddin Shah, landing a role in Shah's film ‘What If?' Sheikh's Bangalore and Mumbai theater credits include among over a dozen lead roles in India, Herb Morrison in ‘Blackbird 13' at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Mumbai, and Valere in ‘The Flying Doctor' at the Taj Residency in Bangalore. His theater tools were forged in India but honed in New York where he took a two-year course in the Mesiner Technique. Behind his Off Broadway appearance are years of intense hard work; while taking acting and voice lessons, he works long hours in a Manhattan gym as a personal trainer and weekend evenings tending a bar. Not least of his gifts are speed at picking up accents and at actual com- bat. Sheikh is the Egyptian male lover of an ex- pat English writer (played Keith Miller) living in Cairo in the shadow of religious intolerance and political dictatorship, confronting timeless issues that are particularly relevant today. ‘Cry Havoc,' the title of the play, has Shakespearean echoes; the words are a military command unleashing soldiers to go berserk, freed from any rules of war, licensed to mindless rape, pil- lage and destruction. Merrill, who appeared in Irish Repertory Theatre's Beowulf and The Bells of Christmas in Manhattan, will play Nicholas Field, the British ex-pat. Sheikh will play Mohammed El-Qahira. Cry Havoc will run Oct. 20-Nov. 11 in the Dorothy Strelsin Theatre. The drama had its world premiere in 2003 in a production by Philadelphia's InterAct Theatre Company. "Surrounded by poverty, religious funda- mentalism and political repression, these edu- cated, morally-centered yet disenfranchised men pursue divergent paths toward escape and extremism," according to earlier InterAct notes.