Mandala Theatre tackles contemporary concerns about identity, race and displacement amongst young people from diverse communities. Castaways,written specially for the Company by award-winning young playwright Atiha Sen Gupta, is about what happens when close friends are divided by a single, shattering event.
The play premieres in Bedford today and has just commenced its spring tour to eight venues across the country before arriving to a home audience in Oxford. Yasmin Sidhwa, Mandala’s founder, who has directed the show said: “We’ve developed the play by holding workshops with young people in Oxford and other cities – and we’ll be giving audiences a chance to respond in post-show discussions across the country.”
Mandala’s first commissioned play, Night Light, played to full houses at Oxford’s Pegasus Theatre in 2016. Its production, Collector of Tears, was part of Old Fire Station’s Offbeat Festival last June. The company will be bringing another new production, Antigone, to this year’s Offbeat Festival at OFS. Mandala will travel with both productions to Europe later this summer.
Since its inception in 2015, Mandala Theatre Company has been making a name for itself with a programme of newly-commissioned work which tackles matters of social justice in new and exciting ways. Its first play, Night Light, saw the company’s young actors (all in their twenties) shine a spotlight on young people seeking asylum. Now Castaways explores community and tribal loyalties amongst three friends, all with different backgrounds.
Yasmin said: “The issues we deal with could not be more relevant in today’s society where communities are becoming more and more divided. We’re lucky to have received funding to explore this with marginalised young people – and our tour plan is designed to take in cities where migration, radicalisation and alienation are widespread.”
[gallery td_gallery_title_input=“Credit for all pictures: Stu Allsopp” td_select_gallery_slide=“slide” ids=“37260,37254,37250,37258,37257,37256,37252,37249”]
For further information, and to purchase tickets, click here.