Diverse South Asian experiences…
Tara Theatre’s Artistic Director Natasha Kathi-Chandra has this month announced her inaugural season for the company.
Exploring the world through the spectrum of diverse South Asian experiences, Tara Theatre has championed South Asian artists since 1977; Kathi-Chandra’s upcoming season will weave together the many threads that form South Asian identities, highlighting the multiplicity of stories full of joy, contradictions and complexities. The work is political and humorous, focussing on themes of climate crisis, immigration, forbidden love, illness and the conflict between freedom and duty.
The season will start with a practical guide on how to save the world when no one f***ing else is, presented by the Tara Theatre Young Company, directed by Tara Theatre’s Associate Director Gavin Joseph and written by Nicole Latchana who was also on Tara Theatre’s 2024 Nova Shortlist, which marks exceptional South Asian playwrights.
It explores Western apathy to the climate crisis as young activists seek reparations for those affected in the Global South. The play will be performed by Tara Theatre’s Young Company which is a paid programme for 18 – 25 year olds looking to develop as theatre makers, launched by Natasha Kathi-Chandra in 2022. a practical guide… will run at Tara Theatre from 15 – 19 April 2025.
Hunia Chawla’s Permission asks us to consider what liberation looks like between two Pakistani friends, the respectable Hanna and activist Minza as they explore the trope of ‘the oppressed Muslim woman’. Running from 30 May – 7 June 2025, Permission is directed by Neetu Singh.
I Dream of Theresa May is written by Vivek Nityananda and directed by Natasha Kathi-Chandra. Exploring what it means to be a model British citizen, Nikhil a gay Indian man, accepts the mentorship from the UK’s previous Prime Minister Theresa May to secure his right to remain. Commissioned after development on Tara Theatre’s 2024 NOVA scheme for launching playwrights, I Dream of Theresa May runs 17 – 29 November 2025 at Tara Theatre.
Finally, presented in co-production with the Bush Theatre is Sweetmeats by Karim Khan, which explores the unlikely and forbidden love sparked between two South Asian elders Liaquat and Hema who meet at a type 2 diabetes workshop. Full details about the run in 2026 are still to be announced.
Artistic Director, Natasha Kathi-Chandra:
“With my inaugural season at Tara Theatre I want to highlight that there isn’t just one way to ‘be’ South Asian. So often our identities are homogenised, but with these shows I want audiences to see the sometimes contradictory, often joyful and nearly always complex ways in which our stories are forged.
“From Wandsworth to Karachi, from the heart of a protest to making chapatis at home, Tara Theatre is all about championing new voices and nurturing South Asian and Global Majority talent. We’re so excited to be working with young creatives and established writers to bring audiences theatre that will spark debate, laughter and connection.”
