The Donmar Warehouse and Tara Theatre have confirmed casting for the world premiere of the production adapted from Kavita Puri’s Partition Voices: Untold British Stories.
Written for the stage by Sonali Bhattacharyya, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Ishy Din and Alexandra Wood, the world premiere production of Silence arrives 75 years since the Partition of India, examining the legacy this brutal moment in history has left.
For this production Artistic Director of Tara Theatre, Abdul Shayek directs: Renu Brindle, Sujaya Dasgupta, Nimmi Harasgama, Bhasker Patel, Jay Saighal, Rehan Sheikh and Martin Turner.
The 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan saw millions uprooted and resulted in unspeakable violence. It would shape modern Britain forever. Witnesses to this brutal moment in history live among us, yet the stories of that time remain shrouded in silence. 75 years later, Silence is a new play focused on communal storytelling – presenting a shared history inspired by the remarkable personal testimonies of people who lived through the last days of the British Raj.
Talking about news of the production Abdul Shayek, Artistic Director of Tara Theatre said: “As Britain holds up a mirror to its colonial history that has shaped our present day reality, many of us are asking questions of our past and who we are. 2022 provides us with the last big milestone before we lose the survivors and their living memory, giving us the chance to understand the human cost of what occurred in 1947, retelling the stories of those who survived Partition and came to the UK. As a group of storytellers, we will try to capture the unbiased documentation of these stories in Kavita’s book and the very real need to recognise that this is a shared history, this is our shared history, a British story regardless of the colour of your skin.”
Meanwhile, Michael Longhurst, Artistic Director of the Donmar Warehouse commented: “We are delighted to be collaborating with Tara Theatre for the first time with this vital new play, specially commissioned to mark the 75th anniversary of the Partition of India. The play tells the remarkable true stories of those involved in such a key moment in history, inspired by extraordinary testimony and acknowledging events that need to be spoken of in Britain.”
The creative team behind the production includes: Designer: Rose Revitt; Lighting Designer: Ciarán Cunningham; Sound Designer and Composer: Elena Peña and Casting Director: Anna Cooper CDG.
Silence will play at the Donmar Warehouse from the 1st to the 17th September.