Syreeta Kumar will take the lead role of Sampat Pal in the Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Curve Theatre Leicester and West Yorkshire Playhouse production of Amana Fontanella-Khan’s book Pink Sari Revolution.
Kumar is known for her frequent work with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Belgrade Theatre audiences will recognise her as Dr Gupta in the play Made in India which premièred on the B2 stage earlier in 2017.
The cast also includes Goldy Notay who was Saheeda in Rani Moorthy’s Handful of Henna at the Crucible, Sheffield in 2006, Munir Khairdin who played Duke Frederick and Duke Senior in Shakespeare’s As You Like It at Curve in 2009, Ronak Patani who appeared in Another World: Losing Our Children to Islamic State by Gillian Slovo at the National Theatre in 2016, Sharan Phull who played Cecily Cardew in Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest at Curve in 2016 and Ulrika Krishnamurti who was Arditi in Made in India by Satinder Kaur Chohan at Soho Upstairs in March 2017.
Pink Sari Revolution tells the true story of Sampat Pal, leader of the notorious feminist movement the Gulabi Gang. Based in India’s rural Uttar Pradesh province, the gang now numbers more than 400,000 members in a part of the world where violence towards women is rife.
The production has been adapted by Indian playwright Purva Naresh. Tim Lutkin is lighting designer while Isla Shaw will create the set and costumes.
Composition and sound design, incorporating elements of traditional Indian music and dance, are by Naren Chandavarkar. Curve associate artist Aakash Odedra will provide movement direction.
Pink Sari Revolution will be directed by Curve associate director Suba Das who said, “I knew I had to bring Sampat Pal’s story to the stage here in the UK. While these shocking events unfold in rural India, there’s a message in this play that anyone can shake up the system—it feels very relevant at a time of global protest.”
Pink Sari Revolution begins a tour at Curve from 27 September until 7 October. It runs at the Belgrade Theatre from 11 until 21 October, Northern Stage, Newcastle from 31 October until 4 November and West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds from 7 until 11 November.