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 prioritized 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 as a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow, she wrote and directed nearly 40 comedy sketches for the late-night showcase 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. Short films have screened in the L.A. Comedy Festival and the Iron Mule Short Film Festival (Audience Award w/Lee Jutton) and she co-founded the long-running NYC improv band The Vigilante with Rebecca Vigil. Her jokes have appeared 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 through Juillard’s Extension division, and recently directed a music and dance-driven A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Under St. Marks Theatre in the East Village. In 2025 Janani looks forward to remixing more classic plays and developing as a choreographer.