Tara Theatre

17/06/2026

📣 SOUTH ASIAN PLAY READING GROUP: AUNTIES IN THE USSR 📣

Next Wednesday, we are heading to the USSR.

Join us for a hilarious and heartfelt new play following two British Asian aunties travelling across Soviet Russia in 1985 on an unforgettable mission involving Gorbachev, Lenin and one loved one’s ashes.

Want to read? Grab your free ticket now.

🗓️ 24 Jun 2026
🎭 Tara Theatre
🎟️

It’s 1985, Ratti – a staunchly socialist middle-aged British Asian grandmother – travels to the USSR with her best friend Bachi, in order to persuade Gorbachev to enter her dead husband’s ashes in Red Square next to Lenin.

05/06/2026

We are so pleased to announce that Tara Theatre has received new funding from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation over the next three years.

This investment will support our mission to champion bold South Asian and Global Majority storytelling, nurture artists at every stage of their careers, and develop new ways of sharing power with audiences, communities and collaborators.

At a challenging time for the arts sector, we are grateful for this recognition and support. It will help us continue building a more representative, resilient and sustainable future for theatre.

03/06/2026

📣 SOUTH ASIAN PLAY READING GROUP: ONCE AND FUTURE 📣

Calling all actors, playwrights and theatre lovers!

Join us for a reading of Once and Future, a haunting play about power, loyalty and the cost of breaking free, as one bullied schoolboy is pulled into a strange and dangerous world.

Want to read? Grab your free ticket now.

🗓️ 10 Jun 2026
🎭 Tara Theatre
🎟️

As a solar eclipse darkens the sky, a runaway schoolchild hides inside a circle of standing stones. Bal is escaping a quiet but devastating humiliation on a school trip. In the stillness of the stones, he meets Merl, a strange and compelling child who believes the eclipse demands a ritual to keep th...

01/06/2026

Just announced! Tara Film Club... Refugee Week Film Night 🎬

Three films. Three journeys. One special evening of cinema.

Join us for a programme of award-winning films exploring migration, displacement and belonging. The evening includes two acclaimed short films; Migrants, an animated story of climate migration, and Aziza, a poignant and darkly comic tale of Syrian refugee life.

The evening's feature is Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor's acclaimed feature Dreamers, a powerful drama set within the UK immigration detention system.

Tickets are free for all in celebration of Refugee Week 2026, supported by Wandsworth Council.

🎭 Tara Theatre
🗓️ Weds 17 Jun, 7:30PM
🎟️ Free tickets available via the link in our bio

22/05/2026

📣 SOUTH ASIAN PLAY READING GROUP: BOKHARI’S BOYZ 📣

Next Wednesday, join us for Bokhari’s Boyz, a sharp new play exploring identity, education and resistance.

Naz Bokhari is the headteacher at the first British South Asian school in the UK, balancing the pressures of leadership while guiding his students through prejudice, opposition and impossible expectations.

Actors, playwrights and theatre lovers, come read with us.

🗓️ 27 May 2026
🎭 Tara Theatre
🎟️ https://taratheatre.com/whats-on/south-asian-play-reading-group-bokharis-boyz/

18/05/2026

The South Asian Play Reading Group returns to Tara Theatre, starting this Wednesday!

Across six sessions, we’ll explore plays by writers of South Asian heritage, from new writing to established works, all read aloud in a welcoming and collaborative space.

Whether you’re a emerging writer looking for inspiration, a theatre-maker interested in expanding the South Asian theatre canon, or someone who simply enjoys listening to great plays, everyone is welcome to join the conversation.

Come to read, discuss, connect, or just listen.

South Asian Play Reading Group
🎭 Tara Theatre
📅 Wednesdays, 20 May – 22 July
🎟 Book via the link in our bio, free to attend

15/05/2026

Last week, we celebrated NOVA, an electrifying showcase of bold new writing from emerging South Asian playwrights and what an incredible journey it has been.

The initial recruitment for NOVA began in July 2025, and we received over 140 submissions from writers across the country. The Tara Theatre team spent months reading through so many exceptional pieces of work, shaping a longlist, then a shortlist, before finally selecting our three brilliant NOVA writers; afshan d’souza-lodhi, Dilan Tulsiani and Mohammed Barber

As Tara Theatre approaches its 50th anniversary, our NOVA playwrights were invited to look towards the past, uncovering hidden legacies that have long been overlooked.

We were also lucky to work with a wonderful team of cast and creatives whose generosity, talent, and collaboration made this showcase so special.

NOVA Cast: Hussina Raja, Shiva Raichandani and Usmaan Khan
Co-Directors: Natasha Kathi-Chandra and Gavin Joseph
Assistant Directors: Cassia Thakkar and Amaan Khalid
Set and Costume Designer: Zidi Wu
Stage Manager: Shuyin Stella Wang
Dramturg and Mentor: Sonali Bhattacharyya

Thank you to everyone who joined us in the room and supported the next generation of playwrights as they expand the canon of South Asian stories in British theatre.

Thank you to every writer who submitted work, every artist who collaborated with us, and every audience member who came along for the journey.

07/05/2026

Which character would you want by your side in a zombie apocalypse? 🧟

afshan d’souza-lodhi, Dilan Tulsiani and Mohammed Barber share which characters from their plays they’d trust to survive and why.

As part of the NOVA showcase, stay for our reverse panel, where the writers will ask the audience questions to help shape the future of their plays.

NOVA SHOWCASE
🎭 Tara Theatre
🗓️ 8 May, 7:30pm
🎟️ Book via the link in our bio

06/05/2026

What are our NOVA writers bringing to the stage? 🎭

From colonial courtrooms to film sets questioning representation, to q***r South Asian resistance in 90s Britain, afshan d’souza-lodhi, Dilan Tulsiani and Mohammed Barber share the stories behind their new plays.

NOVA SHOWCASE

🎭 Tara Theatre
🗓️ 8 May, 7:30pm
🎟️ Book via the link in our bio

01/05/2026

What is NOVA and why should you be in the room? 🎭

Natasha Kathi-Chandra, Artistic Director and Gavin Joseph, Associate Director at Tara Theatre share why NOVA matters as a platform for bold new voices from the South Asian diaspora. Join us to experience the next generation of playwrights shaping British theatre.

🎭 NOVA Showcase
🗓️ 8 May, 7:30pm
🎟️ Book now via the link in our bio