Penned in the Margins Presents NO DOGS, NO INDIANS

Premiering at the Brighton Festival in the 70th anniversary year of Indian independence, poet Siddhartha Bose weaves together true and fictional tales of British colonialism and its legacy.

Starting with the true story of a young woman's attack on an all-whites club with a sign that reads 'No Dogs, No Indians', Siddhartha Bose's play looks at three generations of resistance, sacrifice and discovery at the end of the British Empire in India and in the years that followed. No Dogs No Indians follows a young female revolutionary prepared to risk her own life in defiance of British Rule in 1932, an aspiring intellectual Anglophile in 1970s Kolkata, and his son in 2017, whose life in London is interrupted by an urgent trip home. The play asks how far we should go to resist oppression, what we choose to remember, and whether some wounds are never meant to heal.

No Dogs, No Indians draws on the tragic and little known story of Pritilata Waddedar, a philosophy graduate who joined a revolutionary group headed by Surya Sen, a Bengali activist who was influential in the Indian independence movement. Waddedar led a team of revolutionaries in an attack on the all-whites club in Chittagong, setting fire to it. She was fatally wounded by British officers, and to avoid arrest she consumed cyanide, dying aged just 21.

Weaving in the fictional tale of Shyamal Chatterjee, whose friends call him a "brown sahib" because he is in love with all things British, from Shakespeare to The Beatles, and his son Ananda, returning to India in 2017 to find an India of steel magnates and tech billionaires, Bose's play considers the legacy of the British in India from the violent suppression of dissent in colonial India to the modern superpower of today.

This summer it will be 70 years since the signing of the 1947 Indian Independence Act, the creation of Pakistan and the conclusion of 350 years of the British Empire in India. Marking the anniversary year, No Dogs, No Indians, will premiere at Brighton Festival, whose Guest Director this year is Kate Tempest, ahead of a UK tour to venues including London's Southbank Centre.

Siddhartha Bose is a poet, playwright and performer based in London. He wrote, performed and toured Kalagora, which had an acclaimed run at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011. His play The Shroud premiered in 2014 at Rich Mix. His poetry has appeared in Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century (Bloodaxe, 2009), Dear World and Everyone in It: New Poetry in the UK (Bloodaxe, 2013) and The HarperCollins Book of English Poetry (HarperCollins, 2012). His poetry collections are Kalagora (Penned in the Margins, 2010) and Digital Monsoon (Penned in the Margins, 2013).

Siddhartha Bose said "No Dogs, No Indians dramatises the psychological violence of the colonial encounter, and places the epic drama of modern India in dialogue with a forgotten story from its colonial past. No monsoons, maharajas, or call centres- instead, the play explores systems of cultural oppression in India and questions whether, even seventy years after independence, it is truly free from the legacies of the Raj."

Penned in the Margins creates publications and performances for people who are not afraid to take risks. Driven by a belief in the power of language to challenge how we think, test new ideas and explore alternative stories, they operate across the arts, collaborating with writers, artists and creative partners using new platforms and technologies. Established in 2004, anthologies include the award-winning Adventures in Form, and touring productions include Siddhartha Bose's Kalagora and The Shroud, Claire Trévien's The Shipwrecked House, Hannah Silva's Schlock! and The EVP Sessions.

Cast to be confirmed soon. For more information, visit www.pennedinthemargins.co.uk.

17 - 18 May

Brighton Festival at the Spire, St Mark's Chapel, Eastern Rd, Brighton BN2 5JN

8pm | £17.50 (U26s £12.50, Festival Standby £10)
www.brightonfestival.org | thespirearts.org | 01273 709709

21 May
Alchemy Festival at Southbank Centre, Belvedere Rd, Lambeth, London SE1 8XX
2pm & 5.30pm | £12 (£6 concs)
www.southbankcentre.co.uk | 020 7960 4200

24 May

Norwich Arts Centre, St Benedict's Street, Norwich NR2 4PG

Part of Norfolk & Norwich Festival

8pm | £10

norwichartscentre.co.uk | 01603 660352

July

Live Theatre, Newcastle Broad Chare, Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 3DQ
Details TBC
www.live.org.uk | 0191 232 1232

Other dates and venues to be announced