“It was a great tragedy. We were friends one day and enemies the next. I will take these things to my grave.”
The 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into India and Pakistan saw millions uprooted and resulted in unspeakable violence. It would shape modern Britain forever. Witnesses to this brutal moment in history live among us, yet the stories of that time remain shrouded in silence.
75 years later, Silence is a new play focused on communal storytelling – presenting a shared history inspired by the remarkable personal testimonies of people who lived through the last days of the British Raj.
Commissioned to mark this major anniversary, Silence is adapted from Kavita Puri’s acclaimed book Partition Voices: Untold British Stories and co-produced with Tara Theatre.
This is the world première of Silence, written by Sonali Bhattacharyya, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Ishy Din and Alexandra Wood.
Cast: Renu Brindle, Sujaya Dasgupta, Nimmi Harasgama, Bhasker Patel, Jay Saighal, Rehan Sheikh and Martin Turner
Director: Abdul Shayek; Designer: Rose Revitt; Lighting Designer: Ciarán Cunningham; Sound Designer and Composer: Elena Peña; Casting Director: Anna Cooper CDG
Donmar Warehouse, 41 Earlham Street, Seven Dials, London WC2H 9LX from 1 – 17 September 2022; (Tara Theatre: 21 September – 1 October 2022). Times: Mon – Sat: 7.30pm; Matinees Thu & Sat: 2.30pm. Admission: £45 (£42.50) / £32.50 (£30)/ £20 (£17.50) / £10
Box Office: www.donmarwarehouse.com / 020 3282 3808
