Tara Theatre Adds Poetry, Music and Local Stories to Summer Season

Tara Theatre are marking the start of an ambition to create theatre by and for its local communities with Earlsfield Stories (28th July). Eight local Earlsfield residents agreed to be interviewed over May and June, to recount the stories of their own families and the moments of love and chance that brought them to live in Earlsfield. The diverse stories include residents such as Joseph who moved from Guyana in the early 60s and now pursues his music and song-writing passions, Sue who was the last signature on Sadiq Khan's nomination as an MP, and Canadian born Gabriel who worked in a Luncheon Club run by the local council "serving up to 900 meals a day" to the elderly. Earlsfield Stories will be presented by actors to illuminate the fabulous variety of life from those who've recently begun a new life in the local area in the last six months to those who've been part of Earlsfield for generations.

As part of their Summer season Tara will also welcome renowned poet Daljit Nagra for an evening of poetry and discussion (26th July). Joining Daljit are three of Britain's iconic contemporary poets: Queen's Gold Medal winners Imtiaz Dharker and John Agard and Cholmondeley prize winner Grace Nichols. Reflecting on Britain and the Empire, Daljit, Grace, Imtiaz and John will read from their poems and lead in a discussion with the audience.

A one-off evening of play-readings (27th July) will reflect on the Indo-Brit relationship, showcasing plays ranging from one of the earliest surviving classical plays from India through to Callum Crouch's 2015 play about hunger-strikers across the 20th Century. From Samuel Foote's The Nabob (Britain) to Shahid Nadeem's Woman of Sorrow (Pakistan), the evening will include extracts from a range of plays from India, Britain and Pakistan illuminating the centuries-long Indo-Brit relationship, accompanied by music.

London-based six-piece band KHIYO (29th July) present unrestrained inventiveness and a sense of adventure with mind-boggling execution. The band was formed in 2007 as a collaboration between British-Bangladeshi vocalist and Tara Associate Artist Sohini Alam and composer Oliver Weeks. The band's sound mixes powerful and expressive interpretations of the classics with dynamic and original arrangements that draw on South Asian and Western folk and classical traditions, rock, blues and jazz.

In 2013, the band was at the centre of controversy in Bangladesh about the music video for their version of Rabindranath Tagore's Amar Shonar Bangla, also the national anthem of Bangladesh, as a result of which the song went viral amongst Bengalis worldwide. Sohini Alam is currently also touring with Akram Khan's critically acclaimed show UNTIL THE LIONS.

Tara Arts are established as one of the UK's foremost creators of cross-cultural theatre. Their work, which consists of both new writing and reimagined classics, seeks to make imaginative connections across communities, to help foster a global sensibility from their own locality. The company was founded in 1977 by Artistic Director Jatinder Verma, along with Sunil Saggar, Ovais Kadri, Praveen Bahl & Vijay Shaunak. Tara Theatre, opened in September 2016 by Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, has been awarded Project Design of the Year at the London Construction Awards 2016, The Stage Sustainability Award for 2017 and the London Architecture Award 2017.

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