Photos: First Look at TWO BILLION BEATS at the Orange Tree Theatre

All new production photos have been released for Two Billion Beats at the Orange Tree Theatre. The production opens on 9 February, with previews from 5 February, and runs until 5 March, with a livestreamed performance via OT on Screen on 24 February, also available on demand 8-11 March.

Seventeen-year-old Asha is an empathetic rebel, inspired by historical revolutionaries and iconoclasts Sylvia Pankhurst and B R Ambedkar. She's unafraid of pointing out the hypocrisy around her but less sure how to actually dismantle it.

Meanwhile, her younger sister, Bettina, wide-eyed and naïve, is just trying to get through the school day without getting her pocket money nicked. When Bettina turns to her for help, Asha starts to ask what standing up for her political beliefs really looks like. Between essays, homework, and bus journeys home the two sisters meet outside the school gates each afternoon, smarting at the injustice of the world around them and wondering how they can make it better.

Bouncing with wit, Sonali Bhattacharyya's upbeat new play is a coming-of-age story about the unfairness of growing up in a world where you don't make the rules. A blazing account of inner city British-Asian teenage life, this exhilarating world premiere asks what the cost of speaking up really is.

Nimmo Ismail directs Anoushka Chadha and Safiyya Ingar.

Photo Credit: Alex Brenner