Despite its title, the provocative play “Bisexual Sadness” is more funny than sad. It will get you thinking, but it won’t make you cry. And, I guarantee it will make you laugh.

“I wanted to show what it means for a bi person to be open in a heterosexual relationship, and how some people in the community react,” says playwright India Kotis, who is 26, bisexual, and wrote the play from diverse personal experience. “There’s some irony in the title, but anyone who has had to navigate a situation like this will understand the title.”

It poses the question: “Why do so many people seem to find bisexual women so irritating?” She is daring the audience to answer for themselves.

On the Sunday afternoon performances throughout their September through November 2023 run, the performances are pay-as-you-can at the door, and every show will be followed by a panel of renowned bisexuals who will be discussing issues that are brought up in the play after the show.

Director Carlyle King, who plans to moderate the after-show talks, says, “The play really does lend itself to a great deal of discussion no matter who you are, and I think there will be some lively talk about some of the issues brought up.”

Carlyle says she has two full casts, a Vincent Cast and a Roxane Cast, and that they are quite different.

“I am hoping that people will enjoy the play so much that they will come to see a different cast on another night,” says the director, who adds that she learned a lot about bisexuality through directing the play as well.

The lead character in the play is Faye, who is getting married to a man she loves very much. But, Faye gets sad because her last relationship was with a charming butch girlfriend, Genevieve, and Faye is grieving about the community she may lose when she marries her straight male partner. Meanwhile, Faye’s older sister tries to console her, but is having her own problems with a husband who dumped her for a woman half her age and is dealing with a precocious 12-year-old who is questioning their gender.

This is India’s sixth play, and although she is herself bisexual, this is the first play with bisexuals in it. She is not afraid to tackle tough issues in her plays, such as pedophilia, or quieter taboos, like maternal ambivalence or white shame. Now, it’s bisexuality.

“I like burrowing into rhetorical wars; themes where two primary camps have long ago consecrated an accepted party line, and uncovering fresh questions that can disarm anyone who cares about it,” the playwright says.

India is a member of the BMI-Lehman Engel Libbretist’s workshop where she is developing a Roller Derby musical with composer Sabrina Halavi. Her academic studies have included a study in sex and gender categories in Umayyad Iberia published in the Macksey Journal of Johns Hopkins University.

She graduated with the highest honors and distinction in Anthropology from Kenyon College, and believes that the combination of theater and anthropology is a good mix for playwriting. One astounding anthropology/history paper India wrote is not for the faint of heart, involving slaves, castration and concubines: “She is a Boy, or if Not a Boy, Then a Boy Resemblers Her: Cross-dressing, Homosexuality, and Enslaved Sex and Gender in Umayyad Iberia.”

“As an anthropologist I can put people’s worldviews and reactions in cultural and historical context,” says India. “I’ve witnessed some conflict, pain and grief dating outside the LGBT community.”

Her parents are both accomplished playwrights who met as part of the Chicago Neo-Futurists. Her mother, writer and actress Ayun Halliday, and father, Greg Kotis (who wrote “Urinetown”) have always been super-supportive of India in her work and her identity.

India’s perspective on the play stems from her background in progressive theater communities. She grew up without any stigma toward queerness, and she learned a deep respect of older gay communities due in part to her parents’ extended community, which included many gay and lesbian artists. As a result, she says, she is sometimes more in tune with the older queer community than her own generation.

India also has a great deal of respect for bisexual icons and elders and although she has never met her, she insists that Robyn Ochs, the Boston-based tireless legendary bi activist, has the best definition of bisexuality: “I call myself bisexual because I acknowledge in myself the potential to be attracted — romantically and/or sexually — to people of more than one gender, not necessarily at the same time, in the same way, or to the same degree.”

“Bisexual was something I really, really didn’t want to be,” India admits. “There is so much stigma around bisexuality in queer communities. I wanted to be more ‘fully,’ and ‘simply’ queer. But, through writing this play, I’ve grown a tremendous amount in accepting myself.”

She never clicked with the “pansexual” label, and found a harshness from fellow students about her bisexuality even at liberal arts schools.

For India, love and acceptance is key for life in the world today, and that is why all of her characters in “Bisexual Sadness” show profound love and acceptance toward each other — it’s written in her stage notes.

At the moment, the 26-year-old is single, and admits to having a few crushes.

And, she is enjoying her new-found awakening for herself while writing “Bisexual Sadness.”

“I am not the same person as I was before writing this,” India admits. “It has really helped me, and I hope it will have that same effect on others.”

The LA BI+ TASK FORCE is having a special showing on Sunday, October 8, 2023 at 2 pm. If you want a GUARANTEED space for Oct. 8, you can reserve a spot for HALF PRICE special to our group and friends by using the code: LGBT20.

The play is at The Road Theatre Company, NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Boulevard, North Hollywood, Calif.

The LA Bi+ Task Force board will be on a panel after the show with the director and some performers to discuss the issues of the play with the audience. Then, everyone will go to the NoBar nearby to socialize at 10622 Magnolia Blvd, North Hollywood