Ankur Productions Blog

Experience the work of two exciting new voices from Glasgow’s Black and Asian communities.

Vaisakhi Drums Behind Sandstone Walls
by Sheila Puri (60mins)

Pritam, an ex-wrestler, is ill and spends his days in the kitchen-bed. His pious, long-suffering wife, Bhanto, dutifully serves him. Outside the front door, boys throw bottles and rubbish. During the play, Pritam and Bhanto’s lives change in ways neither they nor those around them had ever anticipated.

Sheila Puri was brought up in a Punjabi Sikh family in Glasgow and is very interested in the impact of migration on the lives of those who came to settle here. She has previously had some short stories published and read on radio.

Mwanawashe (dressing a salad-boy)
by Tawona Sithole (60mins)

In Zimbabwean tradition, the naming of a child has particular spiritual significance, but what impact does this still have in modern society? Mwanawashe translates as child of nature’s majesty, but can the central character of Sithole’s play live up to his name?

Tawona Sitholé was raised on the great African oral tradition of spoken word, song and music playing of his family, Moyo Chirandu of Zimbabwe. He is co-founder of Seeds of Thought urban poetry group, which regularly stages spoken word and music events at the CCA.

The plays will be read by Cora Bissett, Paul Chaal, Amerjit Deu, Vinny Dhillon, Manu Keruwa, Sean Reid and Louise Stewart, rehearsed with Aileen Ritchie and Greg Giesekam.

Ankur Productions’ Acts of Translation programme has delivered
workshops for emerging writers of Asian, Middle Eastern or African origin over the past three years. These two readings are a product of the workshops.