After a celebrated and sold out run at artsdepot in November 2005, Tamasha are delighted to be presenting The Trouble with Asian Men UK Tour from 5 September until 20 October 2006. Created by Sudha Bhuchar, Kristine Landon-Smith and Louise Wallinger using real voices from the Asian community, The Trouble with Asian Men reveals the experiences of British Asian men through their own eyes and with all of their vivacity, concerns and humour.

Having interviewed a variety of men and women from a range of communities throughout the UK the piece has been created using a powerful verbatim technique. Recordings of interviews have been edited into a kind of aural script which is relayed to and recreated by the actors during the performance. This unusual process allows actors a unique means to expose the rhythms and idiosyncrasies of human speech, and to channel the spirit of the people they represent. This process involved interviewing 191 people and editing over 150 hours of tape.

'the trouble with Asian men is they get dissed for the smallest of things'

'Asian men want trophy wives; get your MBA or whatever but leave it behind when you walk through my door'

'it seems that there is this invisible umbilical cord between the mother and son and no matter whether he's forty or four it's still attached; it's intact, not cut'

Tamasha's research has unearthed nuggets of personal experience that allow us to see the bigger picture that make up the lives of second- generation Asian men: their chameleon like negotiation between cultures, the state of the gender gap in British Asian homes and whether they can ever really break the umbilical tie with their mothers. The result is an incredibly vital, tender and frequently funny insight into lives that surround us everyday.

ABOUT TAMASHA

Tamasha Theatre Company was founded in 1989 by Artistic Directors Sudha Bhuchar and Kristine Landon-Smith with a commitment to disclosing the untold stories of Asian and diasporic communities. Since that time it has commissioned and created pioneering new works inspired by Asian stories that have toured nationally and abroad and received extensive acclaim. Tamasha also runs Tamasha Developing Artists, an intracultural artist development programme that nurtures playwrights, directors, designers and performers throughout their careers

ABOUT THE CAST

Divian Ladwa was last seen with Tamasha in Child of the Divide (Polka Theatre), A Fine Balance (Hampstead Theatre), The Trouble with Asian Men (artsdepot) and Strictly Dandia (Lyric Hammersmith, The Lowry Salford and Nuffield Southampton). He is a member of FLUXX Theatre Company.

Sonia Likhari was last seen with Tamasha in The Trouble with Asian Men (artsdepot). She recently starred in Staying On (London Theatre Company) and Chopra Town (BBC/Hat Trick). Her first play, Behna, was performed at Soho Theatre as part of Kali Futures, a new writers' programme run by Kali Theatre Company. As well as performing in The Trouble With Asian Men, Sonia was also a researcher for the show.

Amit Sharma was last seen with Tamasha in Child of the Divide (Polka Theatre) and A Fine Balance (Hampstead Theatre). He is a graduate of Graeae's The Missing Piece 1 project. Theatre credits include: Other People's Shoes (Theatre Royal Stratford East and Spare Tyre), Woyzeck, Into The Mystic, The Trouble With Richard, Diary Of An Action Man (Graeae) and Granny and the Gorilla (Unicorn). TV and Film credits include: Tikkabilla (BBC), The Robinsons (BBC). Amit co- wrote 'Stoppage Time' (BBC Radio 4) as well as writing 'Indi- yaar' for Paines Plough's Wild Lunch series.

Louise Wallinger was last seen with Tamasha in The Trouble with Asian Men (artsdepot). She is a co-founder of Non-Fiction Theatre Company whose productions include Sex 1:Death 2 (BAC, Soho Theatre, Edinburgh), 'We haven't said a Porky Pie Yet' (BAC, Edinburgh) and See-through Soho (Soho Theatre). Her play Cut Me and I Bleed Elvis was broadcast on Radio 4 in October 2005, and she has extensive credits as a stage actress. Louise is currently working on a new show commissioned by Soho Theatre.

UK TOUR SCHEDULE - AUTUMN 2006

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