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.

AIM magazine wrote of the upcoming Merchants of Bollywood production back in July this year. We said:

The Merchants of Bollywood will be based on the career of film choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant and will feature songs and actors from the Mumbai based entertainment industry. It has already met with success in Australia.

The stage play will follow the clash of generations and ambition among Bollywood stars. It is said to be “a potent mixture of dreams and sacrifices, family rebellion and romance”.

Dates have now been confirmed. The show will run in Birmingham from Tuesday 24th October through to Saturday 4th November at the Alexandra Theatre.

It will when move on to Manchester (Opera House), Newcastle (Tyne Theatre), Glasgow (SECC ) Bradford (St George’s Hall), Cambridge (Corn Exchange), Cardiff (Millennium Centre) and London (Hammersmith Apollo).