EXCLUSIVE: Charithra Chandran, who plays Edwina in Netflix’s smash hit period drama Bridgerton, is to star in a rom-com podcast series.
Chandran, who also starred in Alex Rider, will lead A Mid-Semester Night’s Dream, from Meet Cute, the podcast company that specializes in rom-com stories.
The series follows a group of graduate students doing a semester on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, who discover a magical edition of the play which makes people fall in love with whoever reads from it.
It’s fall semester at Athinai State University and Mia, Lyle, Helen and Demetri are in a love square. Both Lyle and Demetri have the hots for Mia, who only has eyes for Lyle. Meanwhile, Helen continues to pine for Demetri and their now-extinguished romance. Alliances and affections are all set to change when Patrick, a TA spurned by academia and the arrogant Professor Oberman, starts wreaking havoc on the class via the magical book.
The cast also includes Rasha Zamamiri (The Blacklist), Elliott Ross (Masters of the Air), Craig First (Diabolical) and Joseph Lymous (Hello Tomorrow!).
It is written by Danielle Evenson (Whatta Lark) and Heather Huntington (Persuasion) and directed by Suha Araj (Rosa). Jenn Nielsen is associate producer and Sean Paulsen is audio producer.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream is one of my favorite plays and Meet Cute’s modern adaptation in a college setting within the medium of podcasting makes this a really exciting and accessible project to be a part of,” said Chandran.
The series, which will launch in September, is the latest for Meet Cute, which was founded by former investment banker Naomi Shah.
Shah set up the company on Valentine’s Day in 2020 and has raised millions of dollars from the likes of Union Square Ventures and Shari Redstone’s investment firm Advancit Capital. It has produced over 450 romantic comedies as original 15-minute scripted audio episodes and has a global network of over 1,000 creators, including Pretty Little Liars author Sara Shepard, who created Cruise Ship, Dancing with the Stars’ Julianne Hough and pop star Ellie Goulding.
It also recently struck a partnership deal with Range Media Partners as well as a deal with Dickinson producer wiip.