Harlesden High Street

Abhishek Majumdar’s play is set on the High Street in Harlesden, an area populated mostly by immigrant communities – Jamaicans, Poles and Pakistanis.

Indian Ensemble (Bangalore)

Directed by: Neel Chaudhuri

Playwright: Abhishek Majumdar

Synopsis:

Abhishek Majumdar’s play is set on the High Street in Harlesden, an area populated mostly by immigrant communities – Jamaicans, Poles and Pakistanis. Sometimes notorious in the press for its high crime rate, Harlesden is also home to the quiet aspirations and mundane frustrations of the working class. It is here that this play finds breath, in the voices and stories of three Pakistani immigrants – Rehaan, Karim and Ammi. Through the course of a day on Harlesden High Street, we share in the extraordinary histories and circumstances of these seemingly ordinary lives.

Director’s Quote:

"I am particularly drawn to the idea of people struggling between nostalgia and belonging, and the fractured identities between these two states."

About The Group:

The Indian Ensemble theatre company, based out of Bangalore, has three wings – a production house, training programme and a repertory. The company is committed to producing original work in various Indian languages and training performers, writers and directors over a one year program. Our current productions are ‘Treadmill’ (Hindi), ‘Rizwaan’ (Hindustani and English) and ‘Harlesden High Street’ (English). Our next play opens in 2011 and is based on the stories of trafficked women and children. It will be in Marathi, Tamil and Hindi.