Theatre company Rifco Arts are holding open auditions to find new singing talent. After the success of previous touring shows such as: There’s Something about Simmy, Meri Christmas and The Deranged Marriage, they are embarking on new projects and keen to find an older generation of talent.
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Writing in the Independent newspaper yesterday, columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown says British Asians don’t appreciate the arts as much as they should. She added:

British Asians today still don’t get the arts, and don’t want to either. Got better things to do. They push their young people into real jobs that bring in big bucks, or at least good brides from families with big bucks. A painter, novelist, playwright, actor, cannot be admitted into respectable or wealthy dynasties – unless, of course, there is evidence of stardom.
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Jatinder Verma, founder of Tara Arts, the British Asian theatre company, observes some stirrings of interest, but largely superficial. “Over the last two decades, people have become more comfortable, and a small number from this emerging middle class are coming in. But too few are passionate about theatre or dance. There is no understanding that the arts have intrinsic value, that they tell us who we are as a society, our relationships. We have not looked to critiquing ourselves, what our place is in this country, this world. We are not yet in love with ideas.”
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“Asian kitsch has cachet now,” says one composer who wishes to remain anonymous. “The young would rather go to fashion shows than exhibitions, listen to Britney rather than Nitin Sawhney. There are, of course, brilliant individuals who will always rise, but with no blood links, cultural pathways to and from their people. We British Asian artists are lost before we were found, and I am very depressed about the future.”

Is there a hint of truth to these accusations? Are British Asians too in love with simple entertainment and not experimental enough with the arts?

A new festival dedicated to pan-Asian culture will be part of the 2008 Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. Dubbed ‘InvAsian’, it is a partnership between production company clubWest and Tartan Silk Public Relations, with events taking place in the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh’s Quincentenary Hall.
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The Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore was inspired directly by Alice in Wonderland and Western opera when he wrote the dance opera Tasher Desh - a satirical portrayal of a society ruled by strict conventions.
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The writer and commentator Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s poignant and impassioned one-woman show about a Ugandan in Britain is once again on tour around the country.

In Nowhere to Belong: Tales of an Extravagant Stranger, she explores her life-long love of Shakespeare. The experience of playing Juliet as a teenager in ‘60’s Uganda sent shockwaves through her family and helped shape the emotional and political landscape of her life. The play captures how theatre and Shakespeare helped change her life.
Details of the tour on her website.

British Asian theatre arts will be celebrated and explored at a major international conference at the University of Exeter in April.

The event is a culmination of a 4 year research project led by the Drama Department to address the lack of resources that offer a historical and critical analysis of South and British Asian drama in the UK.
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Now in its third successful year, an Arts Council programme is launching a drive for high flyers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to join the boards of arts organisations.
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Leicester based Phizzical Productions unveils its newest production, A Perfect Ganesh, from next month with a tour around London venues.

The play is a seductive comedy about two middle-aged suburban women, who travel to India, and discover the unexpected.

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Female superheroes in hijab, 19th century black musical theatre, global story-telling and one man’s drama as he lives on the fringes of society: just some of the offerings at the Evolved Festival, coming to Arena Theatre, mac and Black Country venues, in the Midlands, next month.

Over the past year, a consortium called r:evolve has been working with Black, Asian, Chinese and Eastern European artists across the West Midlands, with the aim of developing talent and creating fresh and exciting new theatre. The result is Evolved, a festival showcase bringing together talents including Nu Century Arts, Muslim female theatre company Ulfah Arts and mac productions, as well as upcoming artists Dreamscape Theatre Company, Vimal Korpal and storytellers Peter Chand and Chris Lowe.
See: www.r-evolve-theatre.co.uk for the full diary of events.

Are you interested in Bhangra music and its history?
Do you enjoy Theatre and want to learn more about how professional theatre productions are developed?
Want to meet new people and to work with a professional creative team?
Do you live in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire or West London?
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Tamasha Theatre’s new show, Lyrical MC opens this week at Oval House Theatre. The company is collaborating with South London youth theatre, React, for this unique show that explores how young people negotiate their multicultural differences through language, how they interact and experience life in the multicultural, urban world of school.

The script is based on verbatim text that came from Tamasha’s workshops with drama classes in urban secondary schools.

Performance dates:
Wed 6 Feb, 7.30pm, Oval House Theatre (part of 33% London season)
Thu 7 Feb, 1.30pm and 7.30pm, Oval House Theatre
Tue 26 Feb, 4.30pm, Soho Theatre
Wed 27 Feb, 4.30pm, Soho Theatre
Thu 28 Feb, 4.30pm, Soho Theatre
Thu 6 Mar, 2pm and 7pm , Unicorn Theatre
Fri 7 Mar, 2pm and 7pm, Unicorn Theatre
Tue 11 Mar, 2pm and 7pm, Half Moon Young People¹s Theatre
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Ulfah Arts unveils its debut theatre production in March, doing a short tour of the Midlands area. Danger Gulaam Fatima is storytelling by Muslim women about a heroic superwoman in hijab. She rescues women from bad situations only to find herself in similar places along the way. The performance is in poetry, spoken word and song. According to the company, the characters “go on a journey where they get lost, grow up and get rescued”.

Performances
4 March Bantock House, Wolverhampton, at 7.30pm
6 March Arena Theatre, Wolverhampton at 1pm
13 March Midlands Art Centre (MAC), Birmingham at 8pm
More on: ulfaharts.co.uk

Watermans sent out a press release this week once again slamming Arts Council for its cut in funding. It said:

The Arts Council has rejected Watermans’ appeal over the proposal to cut its funding completely at the end of March.

Watermans and its lawyers have always believed that it had a very strong case. as the main objection from the Arts Council was that they were not convinced of Hounslow Council’s long-term commitment to Watermans.

In a very strong letter to the Arts Council, Peter Thompson, leader of the Council, made the borough’s commitment to Watermans very clear while at the same time protesting about the nature of the Arts Council’s decision making. Hounslow Council had not been consulted by the Arts Council or been asked directly about these judgements before they were made. It still seems amazing that the Arts council can continue to justify these judgements in the face of universal evidence to the contrary.

Watermans has decided that it will appeal against this decision.

The Arts Council’s decision is a blow to Hounslow and the whole of West London. Watermans is the only organisation to provide such a range of services across a number of London boroughs including Hounslow, Ealing, Hillingdon and Brent and undermines the boroughs’ resources to contribute to the West London 2012 Offer.

The Whatsonstage.com features an article on Tara Arts’ artistic director Jatinder Verma blasting Arts Council England for its cut in funding.

The company, which celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, had been receiving £341,266. From the start of the new financial year come April, that amount will be reduced to £170,000 – a cut of 50.19 percent.

Tara’s artistic director Jatinder Verma (pictured) said today: “ACE has clearly signalled it is no longer willing to support the company beyond its educational and small-scale work. By extension, it is also a kick in the teeth for any Black or Asian company which chooses to focus its work on the classics (Tara is currently the only company to choose to do so). Shakespeare, as far as the Arts Council is concerned, is not for Black or Asian-led companies.

“This decision clearly makes a mockery of both the Arts Council’s own commitment to ‘celebrating diversity’, and the findings of the McMaster Report (See News, 10 Jan 2008), which accurately notes, ‘We live in one of the most diverse cultures the world has ever seen, yet this is not reflected in the culture we produce, or in who is producing it.’

Other organisations such as west London venue Watermans is also in a similar predicament - having seen its funding cut after the latest ACE funding review. It is reportedly considering legal action to bolster its case. More on that soon.

Salema Khanum has left as head of Asian Arts at Watermans in West London, one of the top venues for British Asian theatre.

Ninaz Khodaiji is taking over from this month.

The Bengali Cultural Heritage Festival is putting on a free plat at the Brady Arts Centre this Sunday.

‘Ranjana’ is a heart-rending drama set against the backdrop of 1960’s India (Calcutta). Ranjana, the main protagonist, has to uncover the true identity of a convict, Kaushik awaiting a death sentence, whom she thinks might be her long-lost brother. This adaptation is an homage to the birth centenary of the eminent playwright Bidhayak Bhattacharya.
The showcase designed to raise awareness about their film production of the same name.

On Sunday 9th September, 7pm
Brady Arts Centre

A one off stage adaptation of “The importance of Being Ernest” is being held on 25th August at the Rag Factory in East London.

Starring upcoming actors Aiyaz Ahmed and Rez Kabir, the play will last for 35 minutes. It is a play about the relationship of two friends who discover the importance of being ernest! Doors will open at 6:30pm which will be followed by a drinks reception and an introduction to the play. There will also be an oportunity to meet the cast and crew for drinks after the play.

This is a free premiere with free drinks. Entry is only by guest list, email aiyaz.a@gmail.com
More info: www.filim.co.uk

Tamasha theatre is bringing back some of its popular theatre productions: The Trouble with Asian Men, and A Fine Balance from next month.

The theatre company’s adaptation of Rohinton Mistry’s novel will start touring at The Nuffield in Southampton (1 - 5 May) and The Rep in Birmingham (15 - 19 May). See: a-fine-balance.com

The Trouble With Asian Men will return to London next month, before touring to Bradford, Manchester and Glasgow. Created entirely from interviews with the public, the latest run will feature a new all-male cast performing dozens of real-life characters. It starts its tour at the artsdepot in London from 22nd May. It will then move to The Alhambra Studio in Bradford; Contact in Manchester; and The Citizens Theatre in Glasgow during June.

The Guardian reports today:

The author Hanif Kureishi accused the BBC of censorship last night, after it dropped a radio broadcast of his short story describing the work of a cameraman who films the executions of western captives in Iraq. Radio 4 cancelled a reading of Weddings and Beheadings, one of five nominations for the National Short Story prize due to be broadcast this week, after concluding the timing “would not be right” following unconfirmed reports that kidnapped BBC Gaza correspondent Alan Johnston had been killed by a jihadist group.

Kureishi, whose work includes The Buddha of Surburbia, Intimacy and the screenplay for the film My Beautiful Launderette, said he was angry at the decision, which he described as a result of “stupid thinking” on the part of BBC executives.

“It seems to me that as a journalist, he would be against censorship,” he said of Johnston, who has been missing for more than a month and for whom fears intensified on Sunday when a previously unknown group, the Palestinian Brigades of Monotheism and Holy War, claimed to have killed him.

Tiata Delights, a week-long festival of new work from emerging and established African writers, launches later this month at the Soho Theatre in London. Six plays will be showcased as rehearsed readings with live musical accompaniment from James Lascelles/Juwon Ogungbe.

The writers include Nayesh Radia, by Lizzy Dijeh, Lucian G W Msamati, Levi David Addai and Beminabu Kebede. It will take place from 23rd - 28th April 2007. More on sohotheatre.com

Writer Nirjay Mahindru’s excellent play - The Hot Zone - reviewed here, is back for ten days at the Battersea Arts Centre from Tuesday 13th - 25th March.

It is part of Time Out’s Critics Choice Season where they pick what they felt were the three best plays of last season to remount.
Hot Zone has been produced by Nirjay’s own company Conspirators Kitchen. The play is well worth seeing.

Kali Theatre Company are looking for new playwrights and new plays written by women of the South Asian diaspora to take part in the 2007 New Writing Development Programme.

They are accepting scripts until 2 March 2007 for consideration. Please send two copies of your script (must be previously unpublished/performed) to
Kali Theatre Company,
18 Rupert St (2nd Floor), London W1D 6DE
www.kalitheatre.co.uk

The comedian Alistair McGowan joins a stellar cast to play the jealous husband Frank Ford, at the RSC in Stratford-upon-Avon in a new musical version of Shakespeare’s Merry Wives of Windsor, at the RST this winter.

Directed and adapted by RSC director Gregory Doran, this world premiere has songs composed by Paul Englishby, with lyrics by Ranjit Bolt, and is performed as part of the RSC’s ongoing Complete Works Festival which began in April this year and runs until April 2007.

Bolt was recently featured in Tara Arts’ Marriage of Figaro.
www.rsc.org.uk

Upcoming actress Mamta Bhatia, stars new a new play later this week written by the acclaimed writer Kwame Kwei-Amah.

Titled ‘The Politician’ and showing this Thursday at The Albany in London, she plays the part of Ashna, a Conservative party candidate standing for election who is having an affair with a Black member of the Labour party.

The play will be part of Kwame’s ‘Success Personified’ event, as part of Black History Month, to recognise that he was the first black writer to have a hit play (Elimina’s Kitchen) produced in London’s West-end. The event is being organised by Tell Tarra, one of London’s most successful black theatre companies.

Tamasha Theatre’s popular comedy theatre production, All I Want is a British Passport, is coming back for a final time later this month at The Mill Studio at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford.

The satirical comedy, by Nadim Sawalha, is about Mohamed Al Fayed’s defiant clashes with an unwelcoming British government. It promises to be a witty insight into the mind of the man with the most famous ‘corner shop’ in the UK.

Tamasha is also running some programmes for upcoming artists.