Talaash // by Simran Uppal & the company // 6th Week MT18
"‘Steal the groom’s shoes for a gold coin,’ aunties tell me, ears full of filigree, / slip a jalebi in my hand before lunch and watch the syrup drip on lips saffron-gold."
Talaash is a new all BAME dance musical with an all-women cast. It's got queer themes, live music, a chorus of singers, spoken word, contemporary, Indian classical and Bollywood dance crammed into every second, running freely between genres and worlds: Rihanna, then AR Rahman, then Sia, Carnatic classical improvisation, translations from untranslated woman poets, a stage full of dancers, soaring or playful vocal mashups...
It's about gender and queerness, deep fried samosas, about hating your skin or loving your roots, about memory, aunties, the power of the Ganges, a swimming pool in Hounslow and finding joy and strength in the middle of it. Come for the garam garam (extra hot) masala chai (!!), stay for the visually stunning, musically overwhelming, gold jewellery and silk laden celebration of a contemporary, queer, feminist British Asian world.
Cast:
Natasha Jeppu
Madhulika Murali
Soumya Mishra
Neetu Singh
Riya Bhatt
Shariva Parulkar
Raghavi Viswanath
Shruthi Vijayakumar
Zehra Munir
Atreyi 'Rhea' Chakrabarty
Ayesha Mumtaz
Elhana Sugiaman
Jenna Colaco
Jesryna Patel
Lou Lou
Musicians:
Durga Ganesh
Manas Bhatnagar
Choreographer and musical director: Sparkle Dey
Writer and director: Simran Uppal
Musical co-directors: Raghavi Viswanath, Madhulika Murali
Marketing manager: Jeevan Ravindran
Marketing: Camila Vergara & Umamah Malik
Production assistants: Nandana Syam & Phosile Mashinkila
Light: Linette Chan
Sound: Sara Yassi
Photography: Eddie Atonga
With thanks to Francesca Amewudah-Rivers and the cast and crew of Medea (O'Reilly, TT18) for their inspiration.
Talaash is a new all BAME dance musical with an all-women cast. It's got queer themes, live music, a chorus of singers, spoken word, contemporary, Indian classical and Bollywood dance crammed into every second, running freely between genres and worlds: Rihanna, then AR Rahman, then Sia, Carnatic classical improvisation, translations from untranslated woman poets, a stage full of dancers, soaring or playful vocal mashups...
It's about gender and queerness, deep fried samosas, about hating your skin or loving your roots, about memory, aunties, the power of the Ganges, a swimming pool in Hounslow and finding joy and strength in the middle of it. Come for the garam garam (extra hot) masala chai (!!), stay for the visually stunning, musically overwhelming, gold jewellery and silk laden celebration of a contemporary, queer, feminist British Asian world.
Cast:
Natasha Jeppu
Madhulika Murali
Soumya Mishra
Neetu Singh
Riya Bhatt
Shariva Parulkar
Raghavi Viswanath
Shruthi Vijayakumar
Zehra Munir
Atreyi 'Rhea' Chakrabarty
Ayesha Mumtaz
Elhana Sugiaman
Jenna Colaco
Jesryna Patel
Lou Lou
Musicians:
Durga Ganesh
Manas Bhatnagar
Choreographer and musical director: Sparkle Dey
Writer and director: Simran Uppal
Musical co-directors: Raghavi Viswanath, Madhulika Murali
Marketing manager: Jeevan Ravindran
Marketing: Camila Vergara & Umamah Malik
Production assistants: Nandana Syam & Phosile Mashinkila
Light: Linette Chan
Sound: Sara Yassi
Photography: Eddie Atonga
With thanks to Francesca Amewudah-Rivers and the cast and crew of Medea (O'Reilly, TT18) for their inspiration.
