The theatre of history

The theatrical achievements of the South Asian communities in Britain over the last generation are at last being recognised through an extensive research project that will finally place them within the context of British theatre history. The project aims to document and compile a critical history of British Asian live theatre, encompassing the many companies that have arisen and practised their arts over the last 30 years, rising in many cases to professional status and the acquisition of revenue funding from the arts councils. But their origins were rooted in a commitment to the artistic and theatrical expression of what it meant to be an Asian in Britain, and many groups survived and produced exciting and challenging work without significant support. Most companies chose to work in the English language, directing their productions not just to the Asian community but to the broad theatre-going public, and they have followed diverse aesthetic directions, from street-wise naturalism to the incorporation of techniques and modes of presentation derived from the sub-continent. There are many famous names, Tara Arts, Tamasha and Kali Theatres amongst them, and some productions have made their way on to the stages of the National Theatre in London.

But the research, hosted by Exeter University’s drama department, has also looked closely at the period before the establishment of what came to be professional companies, and has gathered together evidence for performances by South Asians in Britain stretching back before the last century. This in itself is a remarkable alternative history, which will be of value to social and cultural historians, and, along with the documentation of the recent period, it will form a significant contribution to the evolution of diaspora studies across a range of academic disciplines. In order to understand this background, and the context in which active theatre-making arose in the 1970s, the research team conducted a broad range of interviews in Southall and Tower Hamlets in London, and in Bradford and the Manchester area, with members of South Asian communities who had pursued initiatives in drama on a local and, at times, a national basis. Together with an expanding collection of interviews with current practitioners, these recordings will constitute a unique archival resource held at Exeter.

The project, which is entering its final year, has been funded by the Arts and Humanties Research Council (AHRC) from 2004 to 2009, and is led by Professor Graham Ley, with Dr Sarah Dadswell as the full-time Research Fellow. The creation of resources has been its primary aim from the beginning, and to that end two books are to be published in 2010 to contain the research findings, and to open up the field to critical enquiry and attention. The first volume, ‘British South Asian Theatre: a documented history’, will contain ground-breaking historical accounts of the companies that have created and toured work across Britain, drawing on material from archives and private collections, unpublished scripts and personal testimonies from those involved in the making of theatre. Attached to this volume will be a CD-ROM which will carry images of programmes, fliers, still photography, audio clips from interviews and clips from video recordings of productions. For the second volume, ‘British South Asian Theatre: critical essays’, the project has brought together contributions from those researching aspects of British Asian theatre in the UK and overseas, including Italy, Germany, the USA and India, as well as from members of the Exeter research team itself. Subjects will range from funding and marketing to dramaturgy and production, with the volume complementing and extending the contents of the documented history.

As part of the research project the Department of Drama hosted a major conference, ‘British Asian Theatre: From Past to Present’, in April this year. It was a unique and historic occasion, bringing together over 35 national and international theatre practitioners and leading scholars to discuss the many issues that have affected the development of British Asian theatre over the past three decades, and other more recent international South Asian diasporic theatres. The conference incorporated a series of public performances of South Asian music, theatre and live art and a video-installation. The purpose of this was to engage with local audiences and showcase some of the most cutting-edge performances in Asian arts by both local and internationally renowned artists. The performances took place both at the University’s drama department and at the Phoenix Arts Centre in the city, where celebrated musician, composer and producer Kuljit Bhamra and performance poet Shamshad Khan performed ‘Am I in Tune?’, a new performance commissioned by the AHRC research team.