Guest Author - Page 8

Vitamin D started as a bunch of scene ideas, thoughts and one-liners of dialogue in my notes app on my phone. It lived there for almost a year, growing every time I had a conversation with someone, saw a post on social media or read an article about the way we speak about, and to women when it came to marital status, and particularly within South Asian and Muslim communities.

Bollywood is one of India's most popular cultural exports. About 1.38 billion people worldwide watch Bollywood films, making them some of the most popular musicals worldwide. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for a British South Asian theatre company like ours to create a stage musical based on the genre. 

As the Associate Director and curator of the Little Angel Theatre, I am delighted to share the excitement and buzz surrounding our award-winning Children's Puppet Festival, happening this August.

In our new production Rough Magic,  there’s a terrifying tentacular creature that lives under the stage. But as part of every performance there’s an even bigger monster present; one that’s even more terrifying and multi-limbed… the AUDIENCE!

When I first worked at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) back in 2017, I was seduced into thinking I had to change my approach to movement because I was working in the “sacred space” of Shakespeare.

Back in February, I witnessed something I've never seen in theatre before, even though I've seen many hundreds of shows. It was in the Wiesbaden Staatstheater in Germany, and the play was Ukrainian playwright Inna Goncharova's The Trumpeter performed in English by actress Kristin Milward. At the end of the performance, the mixed audience of Ukrainians and Germans rose slowly to their feet, weeping and cheering at the same time, and stayed like this for a very long time. It was extremely moving to witness.

There are hardly any plays about eating disorders, and when I started writing this one I realised why. They are incredibly difficult illnesses to explain, let alone dramatise. They tend to go on for years – they are not linear – they often involve many cycles of relapse and recovery.

When I started composing the score, I really wanted to find a musical language with which to establish the world of these nine teenage characters.

Perfect Show for Rachel was developed with my sister Rachel, to create a show on her own terms. It explores who defines artistic taste, and questions who that currently excludes.

As I write this, I'm in a rehearsal room with an immensely talented group of creative people - people who have dedicated their lives to the study and creation of theatre - figuring out what it looks like to revive a fish from the dead. You would not believe the variety of ways one can go about this. If you have some free time, and are absolutely certain you're alone, you should see how many you can come up with. It's fun! 

The wonderful story of Princess Smartypants was written by Babette Cole in 1986. Judith Dimant at Wayward Productions gifted it to us to create in 2020, and after the delays of the pandemic, we have had the absolute joy of finally bringing it to life this year!

A Song of Songs is not your typical musical theatre - but definitely a play with lots of music. The production is nestled in a traditional Middle Eastern beat, infused with the flamenco of Andalusia and klezmer – a real fusion of world music. My vision is now coming to life with the help of a brilliant cast in its London premiere.

On 27 December 1973, Lucy Partington was waiting for a bus home, when a couple pulled up in a car and offered her a lift. The couple were Fred and Rosemary West, and Lucy was never seen alive again. 

Imagine theatre land without the fringe. A world where only mainstream, established productions dominate the stage, leaving no room for the daring, the unconventional, and the underrepresented voices. Imagine the prospect of stripping away the vibrant tapestry of creativity that makes our arts scene so brilliantly unique.

When life handed Beyoncé lemons, she made Lemonade. It went triple platinum. I am not Beyoncé - no matter how many times I practice the dance routine to 'Single Ladies' - but making art about difficult subject matters is a very human thing to do - and I am a human.

Dostoevsky has always been my favourite novelist – he is the chronicler of the troubled mind. I first read The Dream of a Ridiculous Man when I was at university. It burnt itself into my memory. As I was on a walk during lockdown it came back to me – I reread it and it felt like it might have something to say to us – a tale of an individual in crisis in difficult times, and the pandemic felt difficult.

An Officer and a Gentleman The Musical explores and shines a light on many issues we still find exist today. The unfairness in hierarchy within a workplace, differences between male institutions compared to that of female institutions, gender discrimination, diversity and class generalisation.

When I was offered a role in One Last Push, at Salisbury Playhouse, a major selling point, was that it was written by Chris Chibnall. I know Chris’s work from TV – Dr Who, Broadchurch, Life on Mars and more, but until this point hadn’t realised, he was also a highly skilled playwright.

When I was offered the role of Tippi Hedren in John Logan’s Double Feature, aside from delight, I felt quite a lot of pressure. She is a living icon.

Sherlock Holmes is arguably one of the world's most famous and beloved characters in literature and in our new musical, which updates the action to contemporary climate-crisis afflicted London, his neurodiversity is brought electrically to the fore.