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It was 1989 when director Kristine Landon-Smith and writer/actress
Sudha Bhuchar came together to stage an adaptation of Mulk
Raj Anand’s novel Untouchable
at London’s Riverside Studios. As Tamasha enters its 21st
year, Kristine and Sudha's artistic partnership remains at
the heart of the company.
We’re
pleased to announce the first events in our birthday year,
showing the scope of the company's work today and our vision
for the future in a changing Britain.
Propeller
Feb - Mar 2010
Propeller
is a unique project which brings together over 30 artists
- directors, writers, designers and actors - to workshop and
develop four plays currently under commission by Tamasha.
Propeller
gives its participants the chance to work on live projects
in a professional setting, supported by structured training
and individual mentoring from Tamasha’s creative team. Find
out more about the plays, the project and the artists involved
at the Propeller
blog.
The
project culminates in a week of showcase
performances at the Gate Theatre in Notting Hill
from Mon 22 – Sat 27 March 2010,
where you can watch a double-bill of sharp new plays each
night.
Tickets
are on sale now priced
at £12 (£8 concessions) . You can book
online or call 020 7229 0706. Please note that
the Gate Theatre is a small studio space so tickets are very
limited.
The Arrival: Drawing the Line
Mar - Apr 2010
London is one of the most diverse cities in the world with
a long history of immigration and change. This spring, we
begin the countdown to our 2012 project: a theatre-circus
production based on Shaun Tan’s graphic novel The
Arrival, developed in collaboration with The
Circus Space.
The
Arrival is the story of one man and every man. Through
images alone, astory unfolds of a migrant who bids farewell
to his family to begin a new life in a strange country.
Over
the next three years, Tamasha will commission three artists
to create standalone pieces inspired by themes of migration,
which can add layers of material and interpretation to the
show in development.
As
the first of these, we welcome sound and visual artist Oswaldo
Macia to work on Drawing
the Line, a sound project combining sounds of migratory
birds with recordings of young foreign voices, sounds and
expressions. The result will be a composition that highlights
the lines we draw between music and noise, sense and non-sense,
and other languages.
Workshops
begin this month with young people and groups from refugee
and migrant communities in Hackney, Islington, Redbridge and
Tower Hamlets. Watch this space for more on the project as
it progresses.
The House of Bilquis Bibi
Jul - Oct 2010
As the flagship show for our 21st year, Tamasha and Harrogate
Theatre present The
House of Bilquis Bibi. Adapted from Lorca’s 1936
Spanish masterpiece, Sudha Bhuchar's new interpretation is
set in present-day Jhang - the small town in Pakistani Punjab
that is home to the legend of Heer Ranjha.
With
her husband gone, Bilquis must do what she can to uphold her
family's reputation - the fates of her five unmarried daughters
lie in her hands. She arranges for eldest girl Abida to marry
cousin Pappo - over in Pakistan from the US - and turns a
blind eye to the illicit nightly visits he pays to Abida's
balcony. But as she slowly realises that more than one daughter
is staying awake for him, tension between the women in the
house mounts...
With
an all-female cast of nine directed by Kristine Landon-Smith,
The House of Bilquis Bibi is a deeply personal
yet subtly political drama about small town lives with global
ties.
The
show
premieres at Hampstead
Theatre from 22 July - 14 August 2010
before embarking on a UK tour in September and October. Tickets
for the London run go on sale on Monday 15 March - book online
at Hampstead Theatre's website.
Keep an eye on future newsletters for more events as part
of our birthday celebrations, including platform talks and
discussions, a new blog from Kristine, a photo album chronicling
Tamasha's 21 years in pictures, and the launch of our online
community for artists, Tamasha Network.
With best wishes from everyone at Tamasha.
Image: Kristine
and Sudha outside St Gabriel's Halls in Pimlico during rehearsals
for Women
of the Dust
in 1992. St
Gabriel's is also the venue for Propeller
rehearsals over the coming fortnight.
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