Rishi Varma - Sulfur Bottom Interview

Bold, surreal, and emotionally raw, Sulfur Bottom is a new eco-gothic drama that explores the quiet devastation of environmental collapse through the eyes of one family over 40 years. Set in a decaying home on the edge of industrial sprawl, the play transforms the slow violence of pollution into something both intimate and unsettling.

This production marks the Off-Broadway debut of Rishi Varma, an emerging American playwright known for mixing comedy, drama, and the absurd into deeply human stories.

Ahead of the Off-Broadway debut we sat down with Rishi Varma to learn more.

What can you tell me about Sulfur Bottom? Sulfur Bottom is an ecogothic drama set in a house at the edge of a growing industrial park. The story takes over 40 years in a decaying house, on poisoned land. But at its core, it’s about a family, three generations, all connected through this house. It’s funny, intimate, surreal, time doesn’t follow its normal rules, memory leaks and oh, did I mention there’s a talking whale?

What inspired you to write this piece? I saw a story on the news a few years ago about a man who was being told to evacuate his home because of environmental contamination. He refused. Said he had nowhere to go, didn’t want to leave, and couldn’t in good conscience sell the house to anyone else. That stuck with me. It made me think about the weight people carry in situations like that, how injustice doesn’t just affect land or laws, but lives and legacies.

At the same time, I was writing a lot about nature, animals, how we relate to the world around us. So those ideas started colliding: family, memory, decay, environmental grief. And then I thought, what happens if you push all of that to a surreal, almost mythic level? That’s where the talking whale came in. Once I let the world get a little strange, it all opened up.

Why did now feel like the right time for this play? Honestly, this story would’ve been relevant a hundred years ago, and I really hope it’s not relevant a hundred years from now. But it is relevant right now. Maybe more than ever.

We’re seeing the consequences of inaction and silence grow every single day. At the same time, there’s this incredible movement of people raising awareness, organizing, fighting for justice. This play is part of that conversation. I’d be thrilled if someone sees Sulfur Bottom in the future and says,

“This feels dated. This couldn’t happen anymore. I’d take that as a win"

What was your creative process like while writing the play? Chaotic. Joyful. Maddening. Everything in between?

I started the project about three years ago. The first draft came together pretty quickly, but I’ve rewritten it so many times since then. I’ve ripped it apart and rebuilt it more than once. There were long stretches where I didn’t touch it at all. I think that’s just how some plays work. They need time to stew.

A little bit ago, I brought in a team (director, designers, actors) and that really transformed things. Writing can be a lonely process, but theatre is inherently collaborative. Once other people started living inside the story, it grew in ways I never could’ve imagined on my own.

What’s it like to see the script come alive in the rehearsal room?

It’s surreal. Before that, it’s just me in my apartment at 2am, panicking about whether I’ve made a terrible mistake devoting my life to this. Then suddenly there are actors embodying these characters, designers building the world, directors shaping it all. And I’m like, oh right, this is real now.

It’s also incredibly humbling. You hear things out loud and go, “That line doesn’t work at all” or, “Oh wow, I didn’t know that moment could hit so hard.” 

It’s a constant learning process. The script is just the beginning. The actual show gets built together, in the room.

How did you approach blending all the themes in the play? Honestly, I tried not to force it.

The play touches on a lot: environmental justice, family trauma, memory, illness, survival. But I didn’t go into it thinking, “Okay, I need to represent all these topics.” 

I just kept coming back to the characters. What would they do in these situations? How do they respond when they’re backed into corners? If you follow that truthfully, the themes sort of emerge on their own.

At the end of the day, it’s about a family trying to survive. Everything else (the pollution, the ghosts, the talking whale) orbits around that core.

This marks your Off-Broadway debut. How does that feel? I’m incredibly excited that this show gets its chance on a New York stage.

Getting here hasn’t been a straight line. I wrote the play, shelved it, brought it back, did readings, rewrote it again, doubted it a hundred times, and now here we are. It feels exciting, overwhelming, a little terrifying. But mostly I’m just grateful. We have a killer team, and the fact that people are trusting and investing in this weird, ambitious, deeply personal story means the world to me.

What was the first piece of theatre you saw that really stuck with you?

Book of Mormon. I was a kid, and it completely blew my mind.

Not just because it was funny or wild or super sharp, but because it showed me that theatre could be anything. It didn’t have to follow a specific style or structure. You could be outrageous.

You could flip expectations. It was just this huge permission slip to go nuts.

Now, for the record, Sulfur Bottom is not Book of Mormon. Please don’t come in expecting a tap number about environmental collapse. But it did show me that theatre could be bold and unexpected. That stayed with me.

What keeps you inspired? The people I get to work with. Always.Writing alone can be exhausting. You start second-guessing everything and falling into your own mental loops. But once other collaborators come in, the story gets new life. Suddenly it’s not just yours. It belongs to everyone in the room. That shared experience and creative energy is why I love theatre.

Also, no two performances are ever the same. What happens one night will never happen in quite the same way again. That’s just a lot of fun!

What do you hope the audience takes away from Sulfur Bottom? I hope they feel something. I hope they carry the story with them after they leave. It’s not just a play about sadness or injustice. There’s laughter, absurdity, tenderness. I wanted to create a space where darkness and joy could exist together. If people walk away feeling moved, or even just shaken up, then I’ve done my job. Even if they hated it, as long as they’re thinking about it the next day, I’m okay with that.

Ideally, they also walk out asking questions. About what’s happening around them. About what they can do. About what legacy we leave behind. Love it or hate it, the best theatre is the theatre you remember. I hope people remember Sulfur Bottom when they leave.

Where can people catch the show? We’re at the Jerry Orbach Theatre at The Theatre Center, on 50th and Broadway. Previews are August 13 and 16, and we officially open on August 20. You can catch us Wednesdays at 7:30pm and Saturdays at 1pm.

For more info and tickets, head to www.sulfurbottom.com. Come join us. It’s a wild ride. With dark humor, vivid imagery, and the occasional beached whale, Sulfur Bottom blends grounded storytelling with moments of theatrical absurdity, offering a striking meditation on legacy, denial, and what it means to survive in a poisoned world.