Search results for ""Author Tanika Gupta""

"Tanika Gupta’s epic drama pushes the boundaries of verbatim theatre, telling an important story in a fresh and authentic way never seen on stage before. A rousing piece of work." - Greg Walker, University of Edinburgh, UK Based on the true story of Tanika Gupta's great uncle, Lions and Tigers follows 19-year-old Dinesh Gupta's emotional and political awakening as a freedom fighter pitting himself against the British Raj. Drawn from family stories that the playwright herself heard from early childhood, the play teems with details drawn from her grandfather’s 500-page handwritten journal about his younger brother, and from the 92 letters written by her great uncle from his prison cell. Set against the backdrop of negotiations between the leaders of the Indian National Congress and culminating in actions that shook the very foundations of the British Empire, Lions and Tigers challenges our assumptions about Indian independence and offers powerful new insights into the battles between the British lions and the Bengal tigers. The play was first performed at Shakespeare’s Globe from the 23rd August to 16th September 2017, and was awarded the James Tait Black Prize for Drama in 2018. It is published here in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series for the first time, with a brand new introduction by Durba Ghosh.

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In 2014 local historian Catherine Corless made a discovery of baby bones and skeletons in the grounds of a mother and baby home in Tuam, County Galway, Ireland. Built on the grounds of an old workhouse that operated between 1921 and 1961 the discovery threw up questions about the goings-on across this and similar institutions across Ireland. Tanika Gupta's powerful drama is loosely based on these recent and historical events, drawing inspiration from Corless' discovery. Told through the eyes of Grace and her grandchildren, Bones is a play about loss, punishment of unmarried mothers and the legacy of the demonisation of women by Church and State, where the human and reproductive rights of women are undermined. Bones premiered at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in 2019. Bones is published in Methuen Drama's Plays For Young People Age 16+ series which offers suitable plays for young performers at schools, youth groups and youth theatres that have each had premiere productions by young performers in the UK.

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It is the Jubilee! Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, 1887. At Tilbury Docks, Rani and Abdul step ashore after the long voyage from India. One has to battle a society who deems her a second class citizen, the other forges an astonishing entanglement with the ageing Queen who finds herself enchanted by stories of an India she rules but has never seen. The Empress uncovers remarkable unknown stories of 19th century Britain, the growth of Indian nationalism and the romantic proclivities of one of our most surprising monarchs.

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Niru is a young Bengali woman married to an English colonial bureaucrat – Tom. Tom loves Niru, exoticising her as a frivolous plaything to be admired and kept; but Niru has a long-kept secret, and just as she thinks she is almost free of it, it threatens to bring her life crashing down around her. Tanika Gupta reimagines Ibsen’s classic play of gender politics through the lens of British colonialism, offering a bold, female perspective exploring themes of ownership and race.

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This poignant coming-of-age tale follows Meena, a young girl growing up in the only Punjabi family in a 1970s Black Country mining village. Meena spends her days happily getting into scrapes with the other local children until one day the impossibly cool Anita enters her life. Suddenly Meena knows exactly who she wants to be but is Anita all that she seems? Soon Meena’s world is turned upside down as she is caught between two very different cultures. Anita and Me paints a comic, poignant, compassionate and colourful portrait of village life in the era of flares, power cuts, glam rock, decimalisation and Ted Heath. It has been adapted for the stage by the multi-award-winning Tanika Gupta.

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Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, 1887. At East London's Tilbury Docks, Rani Das and Abdul Karim, step ashore after the long voyage from India. One has to battle a society who deems her a second-class citizen; the other forges an astonishing entanglement with the ageing Queen Victoria who finds herself enchanted by stories of an India over which she rules, but has never seen. Through narrative, music and song, The Empress blends the true story of Queen Victoria’s controversial relationship with her Indian servant and ‘Munshi’ (teacher), Abdul Karim, with the experiences of Indian ayahs who came to Britain during the 19th century. With private romance being mapped onto world history, the action cuts between the ship and different royal residences, offering bright contrasts as well as surprising affinities. In doing so, the play uncovers remarkable unknown stories of 19th-century Britain and charts the growth of Indian nationalism and the romantic proclivities of one of Britain's most surprising monarchs. The Empress, which premiered at Stratford-upon-Avon's RSC in 2013, is published here as a Methuen Drama Student Edition with commentary and notes by Professor Jane Garnett, Wadham College, University of Oxford, UK.

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