co-producer

Sanguine Night, developed to coincide with the 70th anniversary of the Partition of India in 2017, explores the moral and personal impact of a Bhopal-style disaster on an individual family. It was conceived at New York Theatre Workshop in New York, while playwright Bushra Laskar was a NYTW Playwright Fellow, and Kali Theatre Company, with a rehearsed reading at Tristan Bates Theatre in February 2015 .

Sanguine: 1. optimistic, especially in a bad situation. 2. lit. blood-red. 3. arch. bloody or blood-thirsty.

‘How can we make up for so much tragedy?’

On a faded grand estate in central India, a family of five women are determined to survive, surrounded by an apocalyptic landscape ravaged by a terrible accident. A response to the rarely-discussed 1984 Bhopal Union Carbide disaster – the largest man-made industrial accident of modern times – this show creates a surreal world which resonates with all cultures affected by globalization, combining Western music with Indian folklore and dance.

Sanguine Night was supported by Arts Council England, Old Vic New Voices, Derby Theatre (In Good Company), The Park Theatre (Script Accelerator), Ovalhouse and RADA Festival.

Sanguine Night was presented in 2018 as a scratch sharing as part of RADA Festival (London) and Cambridge Junction New Writing Festival.

R&D CAST
Park theatre R&D Cast: Sakuntala Ramanee, Medhavi Patel, Nyla Levy, Norma Dixit, Catherine Mobley, Manorma Joisi
RADA R&D Cast: Aasiya Shah, Vinny Dhillon, Manorma Joisi, Catherine Mobley, Ulkira Krishnamurti, Norma Dixit

R&D TEAM
Writer: Bushra Laskar
Director & Dramaturg: Vanessa-Faye Stanley
Video Designer: Angela di Tomaso
Sound: Albi Gravener
Assistant Director: Mariana Aristizabal
Producers (RADA festival): Boileroom, Vanessa-Faye Stanley, Hannah Tookey