Summer Season At Tara Theatre

Earlsfield venue announces line-up rich in diversity

Summer Season At Tara Theatre
Above: Asif Khan's Combustion

As Tara Arts in Earlsfield celebrates its 40th anniversary throughout 2017, the company has just announced the summer season for its Tara Theatre.

Leading the line-up and presented as a co-production with AIK Productions is Combustion (17th – 27th May), the debut play from writer/performer Asif Khan.



Set in a Bradford car mechanic shop during the month of Ramadan, this new comic drama is written by Asif who is being widely tipped as one-to-watch following his inclusion on the 2017 BBC New Talent Hotlist, chosen by Idris Elba and Tony Hall.

Following its Tara Theatre run, Combustion will transfer to the Arcola Theatre from 30th May – 24th June before a UK tour.

Award-winning Edinburgh Fringe hit Labels (27th – 29th April) which tackles mixed heritage and immigration, and a new comedy about Britishness called Octopus (12th – 15th July) are among several visiting shows that explore the experiences of millennials in multicultural Britain.

Ahead of a run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the theatre will present An Arrangement of Shoes (20th-22nd July), a solo show by young actress Radhika Aggarwal set in an Indian railway colony during the Gulf War. Written by Award-winning Indian playwright Abhishek Majumdar - whose play The Djinns of Eidgah was seen at the Royal Court in 2016 – the production considers globalisation and identity in the Age of Faith.

The music programme has performances spanning genres from Indian classical to Qawwali, performed by a host of internationally recognised musicians, plus a rare chance to hear the Dhrupad style of Indian vocal music performed at Women in Music (3rd June).

Through the art of live storytelling, UK music producer PKCtheFirst and international performer Peter Chand allow audiences to experience two distinctive artists bringing a fresh UK twist on traditional tales collected from South Asian elders with Tongue Tied & Twisted (1st – 2nd June).

Events aimed at families include The Tales of Birbal (2nd – 3rd June) which draws on tales treasured for generations on the Indian subcontinent, interactive workshops with Binglish Garden Boxes (27th May) and art project A New Union Flag (19th – 20th May), where participants create a new flag to celebrate diversity.

Tara Theatre will also play host to several performances in the Wandsworth Arts Fringe, including Lobster Quadrille’s anarchic clowning show Carabet (6th May).

#Tara7070 events will continue to celebrate the 70th anniversary of India and Pakistan’s independence from the British Empire. Covering music, theatre, dance and spoken work, 70 events over the course of the year will look at how the Indian sub-continent has shaped Britain’s destiny, as much as Britain shaped modern India and Pakistan’s and illuminate the connections between the three countries. These events are marked in listings using the #Tara7070.

Speaking about the season, Artistic Director Jatinder Verma said, “The 70th anniversary of India and Pakistan’s independence provides a fitting opportunity to enjoy and explore the rich diversity of contemporary Britain. Britain’s relationship with the Indian sub-continent spanned centuries and its enduring value is in the extraordinary range of artistic talent that finds its fitting home in our unique Tara Theatre.”

April 19, 2017