Salty water and us
Written: Murad Khan
Direction: Filiz Ozcan,
2015, Funded by Arts Council of England.
Salty Water and Us’ is a play about the Lascar stories of Bangladeshi immigrants who had a dream of going back home. Their dream, struggle, contribution and journey became the history of Bangladeshi immigrants heritage as well as British heritage that has been celebrated in this play.
Salty Water and Us was about the story of Bangladeshi and Asian lascars who worked on the merchant ships of ‘East India Company’ during British Raj in India. The play critically analysed and challenged the ‘’Go back Home’’ campaign that was a burning issue in recent times.
The production attracted and created a significant number of new audiences, where majority of them were from different minority groups. This new audience was under represented in arts and this play gave them a unique experience to enjoy theatre for the first time as recorded in the feedback evaluation.
At the end of the performances, audiences also shared their own family lascar stories during the QA session, and were able to celebrate the common elements.
