An instructor’s wife at Georgia Southern University put together The Black Box Theatre’s first stage reading that will be enacted April 21.

Auditions for Vermilion will be held in room 3029 in the Foy building on Feb. 19 and 20 from 6 -8 p.m. for interested actors and dancers.

Vermilion is based on a true story and deals with cultural issues, such as, sexual inequality and colorism, which is how lighter skin is seen as better than darker skin in parts of India.

A Vermillion is a red powder put in the wife’s part in the hair, which symbolizes marriage, similar to the Western’s world wedding ring.

“My message is not if I’ll be a great performer but to contribute and touch people’s hearts,” Mandira Chattopadhyay, author and producer of Vermillion and wife of Somnath Chattopadhyay, a mechanical engineering professor, said.

Vermilion will be directed by Mical Witaker and produced by Chattopadhyay. The author’s daughter, Parama  Chattopadhyay, will perform in the cast and help with the dance and music.

The play will be performed as a stage reading and follows the life of a young Indian girl, Khuki and her mother.

Because Chattopadhyay was born in India and raised her children in America the show deals a lot with blending very different cultures together.

“What I’m doing right now is a juxtaposition of being born in America but from India. There is a difference in culture and I’m merging those things together in my music,” Parama Chattopadhyay said.

It is a goal of both Mandira Chattopadhyay and her daughter to merge Western and Eastern culture in the play showing both the similarities and differences between the cultures.

Mandira Chattopadhyay is very passionate about cultural understanding and reaching her audience emotionally.

“I want to stretch the minds of the students. A lot of issues happening right now wouldn’t have happened if we’d try to understand each other,” Mandira said.