This week saw the launch of The Next Act, an exciting new venture attempting to expand the reach of South Asian playwrights in the United Kingdom.
Gone are the days when new plays written by someone of South Asian heritage were so few and far between that any arrival such as Ayub Khan-Din’s East is East became a major news story. One indication of how far we have come is the recent appointment of Indhu Rubasingham as the Director of our National Theatre.
However, despite welcome influx of playwrights, directors and performers, this demographic is probably still underrepresented. To date, despite the efforts of various practitioners, it has also not had many dedicated platforms through which it could both offer interactions within its own community or spread the word to the wider world.
That is broadly the purpose of those behind The Next Act, which is supported by Queen Mary University and hosted by Dr Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal (Lecturer in Theatre and Performance, QMUL), Shiroma Silva (BBC broadcaster and presenter) and Rukhsana Ahmad (playwright and founder of Kali Theatre). Many British Theatre Guide regulars will recognise the name of Shiroma Silva, who is one of the London critics on our roster.
The online presence of South Asian community groups has increased in recent years. There is now a surprisingly large range of podcasts covering South Asian arts, culture, health, politics and issues affecting communities both in specific countries and as part of the diaspora. Some are specialised, for example concentrating on feminism in the context of these communities.
Until now, there has been next to nothing specifically directed towards South Asian playwrights and their journey within the British theatre landscape. This is what motivated the team to create the new podcast series. They have initially invited eight playwrights to talk at length about themselves as artists, their work and how it reflects on their British South Asian experiences.
The opening episode, which runs for approximately three-quarters of an hour, follows a brief introduction to the project by an in-depth interview with playwright, screenwriter, and cultural producer, Mohamed-Zain Dada. Those unfamiliar with his work will discover a real talent whose play Blue Mist was nominated for an Olivier award, while the follow-up, Speed, is just finishing a run at the Bush in West London.
Helpfully, The Next Act supplements the podcast with a written transcript, which will please technophobes as well as anyone who just prefers the written to the spoken word. In addition to Mohamed-Zain Dada, the complete roster for the first phase welcomes Azma Dar, Sonali Bhattacharyya, Neil D'Souza, Iman Qureshi, Waleed Akhtar, Satinder Chohan and Naylah Ahmed.
Shiroma Silva was very clear about the intentions behind this series. “I've been involved with the Kali Theatre Company which focuses on new South Asian female writing, and so I'd come across several of the writers featured in this podcast and seen their works staged as they progressed professionally.
"What surprised me most in delving more deeply into writers as a whole for this podcast (which of course is not restricted to women) is the full array of works out there, and just how zany and innovative many of them are, oozing with creativity and bubbling with ideas that they've gleaned from their lived experiences within British South Asian communities. And it's not just from one British Asian diaspora experience but from a multitude of them. These artists gave us glimpses into their worlds, that in some aspects have already encroached on mainstream British culture, but there's a lot more to tell, and these writers are capturing it."
While the target market might be the British South Asian community, anyone interested in developments in theatre in this country today is urged to tune in and discover fresh angles on an old subject from those with different obstacles to overcome and stories to tell.
All episodes are available to stream free on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.