Mukul & Ghetto Tigers and Sohaya Visions
RAFTA festival Saturday March 19th-Friday April 1st
“I wanted to explore what it takes for someone to stand up against extremism. Today we are seeing the rise of extremism across the world including in Britain. It covers all shades – from Islamism to white nationalism. It tries to dominate through fear and persecution of anyone who begs to differ. It has a pernicious presence that needs to be extinguished.”
(Raminder Kaur on Terror)
Competition
Inspired by their theatre production, TERROR Sohaya Visions and Mukul & Ghetto Tigers launched a scriptwriting competition, RAFTA (Rise Against Fanaticism Through the Arts).
TERROR’s protagonist, Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain received several posthumous awards for his bravery against violent extremism on July 1st 2016 at the Holey Artisan Bakery in Dhaka.
This competition was held in honour of the memory and has the principal aim of tackling the rise of fanaticism through artistic expression.
Winning Scripts
The winner, ‘Allah’s Own Country’ by Kaamil Shah was awarded £1,000 to take work to the stage with Sohaya Visions and Mukul & Ghetto Tigers
5 runner-up scripts have been selected for a reading with professional actors in London.
10 commended scripts will be read as part of RAFTA festival 2022.
SCROLL DOWN for more information about these scripts and to book your places at the performances and readings. All timings are for UST.
Winning Script’s Stage Performance
ALLAH’S OWN COUNTRY by Kaamil Shah
directed by Mukul Ahmed
Live Performance with post-show Q&A
Friday 1 April 2022, 7.30pm
Rich Mix, London E1
Book tickets at Rich Mix Box Office
Nabeel Ahmed always dreamed of Michelin stars and Celebrity-chef status but was never able to get anywhere beyond his lowly curry house in Bradford. His daughter Saira’s conversion to militant veganism spurs an idea for the world’s first fully sustainable, farm-to-table Indian restaurant in the Yorkshire countryside. But with Halal meat considered barbaric in her eyes, will the “Tandoor on the Moor” be enough to salvage their relationship?
Kaamil is a writer for film, TV and theatre, passionate about telling the stories of the Indian and Pakistani diasporas. He has written for the BBC, ITV and ViacomCBS amongst others and is a member of the 2021-22 Theatre 503 Five. His script, ALLAH’S OWN COUNTRY, was also a runner-up for the Soho Theatre Verity Bargate Award.
Readings of Semi-Finalists Scripts
All readings are 60 minutes in length followed by Q&A, Suitable for ages 12+, timings are GMT
BULLET SONGS by Linsey Andrews
Saturday 26 March, 7pm
Online Reading with Q&A- Book Here
Replete with anthems from right to left, backward to progressive, this is innovative theatre on songs that have become ‘anthems’ for different groups of people over the last couple of centuries. Ambitious as it is experimental, it throws in nationalists with racist cops and corrupt government officials with their regular fanfare, along with those who defy them to the tune of Sylvester, Fela Kuti and Billie Holiday.
Linsey began writing plays with Scottish Youth Theatre. He was award-shortlisted for a short plays production at Brighton Festival, and his last two full-length plays reached the later stages of the Papatango, followed by professional cast readings online in 2020/21. He is also a published poet and story writer.
THE GRAND MARCH by Pooja Sivaraman
Sunday 27 March 4pm
Online Screening with Q&A- Book Here
Written in homage to the many who lead the dedicated fight against fascism and fanaticism in India, THE GRAND MARCH chronicles recent events from the military clampdown of Kashmir, the anti-Muslim riots, the pogrom in New Delhi, and the migrant labour crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. With stories of fervour, bloodshed, and an appeal for the truth: although the play is fiction, very little of it is made up.
Pooja is a Bombay-born, London-based artist, activist, and academic. She has an interest in crafting theatrical worlds that re-imagine history and its many fractures. With a background in journalism and film, her writing is informed by current events and driven by the need to tackle oppressive political structures. She is a graduate of the Royal Court’s Intro Writer’s Group and works as a playwright, actor, and drama facilitator.
MABRUSKA’S LAMENT by Marc Littman
Sunday 27 March 2022, 7pm
Online Reading with Q&A- Book Here
Touching upon Yazidi and Sunni tensions in the deserts of Iraq at a time before ISIS came in on the scene, MABRUKA’S LAMENT is both a seductive romance and a Shakespearean tragedy. Mabruka is a Yazidi teenager who tries to navigate the great weights placed on her as a woman and a carrier of family and community honour after she meets a mysterious man.
Marc, a former journalist, is an emerging playwright who writes about topical issues from the homeless to climate change. He is a member of Theatre West in Los Angeles. As the son of a Holocaust survivor, MABRUKA’S LAMENT resonates with him on a deeply personal level.
END OF THE LINE by Megan Hoche
Monday 28 March, 7pm
Online Reading with Q&A- Book Here
A comedic yet razor-sharp look at systemic racism in America and the role privilege plays in perpetuating that system. Set in New York, this fast-paced play focuses on the energetic city lives of diverse people – white, black, and Muslim. It covers xenophobia and white nationalism during Trump’s era while seeking to create fundamental shifts in blinkered worldviews.
Born and raised in New Jersey, USA, Megan is a two-time semi-finalist for the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and several of her plays have had full productions and staged readings in New York City. Her play, A PERIOD PIECE, is published through Next Stage Press. www.meganhoche.com
FASCISTS AND THE PEOPLE WHO KILL THEM by Kyle A. Smith
Tuesday 29 March, 7pm
Online Reading with Q&A- Book Here
A dark fascistic comedy set in the Democratic Democracy of Libertaria in the not too close but not so distant future. A family’s patriarch tries to get his dysfunctional family to act normal. But his gay son, dark-skinned wife, and daughter with socialist sympathies are the bane of the all-seeing, all-knowing government. Their efforts are foiled by their alpha-male sentinel who relishes killing for the state but dreams of being a dancer.
Kyle’s plays include THE PART OF ME (MadLab Theatre, Graeae Theatre, Princess Grace Finalist, Bay Area Playwrights Festival Semi-Finalist), UNSTUCK IN TIME (No Frills Theater), BLINDED (O’Neill Semi-finalist), WHITEOUT (Shakespeare’s New Contemporaries Semi-Finalist), MISS DIRECTION (Adelphi University, Queen’s Theater), MISS ORIENTATION (Adelphi University), and MISS DIAGNOSIS (Finalist STE Festival). Kyleanthonysmith.com MFA: NYU, DDW.
RAFTA Conversations
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Wednesday 30 March, 7pm-8.30pm
Book Here
A panel of experts discuss how theatre and the arts in general are and can be used to creatively counteract the rise of fanaticism across the world.
Chaired by Raminder Kaur, RAFTA co-producer, writer, Artistic Director of Sohaya Visions, and researcher based in the School of Global Studies at the University of Sussex and research fellow at the Max Weber Centre, University of Sussex and research fellow at the Max Weber Centre, University of Erfurt.
Christine Bacon is Artistic Director of ice&fire, the only theatre company that places the human rights issues of the day at the core of its work.
Lisa Goldman is a writer, Artistic Director and joint Chief Executive of two new writing theatre companies, The Red Room (1995-2006) and Soho Theatre (2006-10).
Abdul Shayek is the Artistic Director of Tara Theater. He is a member of the British Council’s Arts and Creative Economy Advisory Group, and a trustee of The Space and mid-Wales dance company Impelo.
Vik Sivalingam has been associated with LAMDA (London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art) since 2015 as a freelance director. In his current position, he directs and teaches across a range of LAMDA’s acting programmes.
Alda Terracciano is an artist/researcher, curator, director, and activist, who has worked with diverse communities in Britain and internationally including in Italy, Brazil, Portugal, Morocco, India and China.