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Birmingham Rep in Centenary Square, Birmingham
A black and white photo of a group of people walking down steps outside a large building. At the bottom of the steps there is an older lady and a young boy. They are both looking forward. SILENCE Production image. Two women stand in neutral-coloured garments, with their heads covered in long sheets of neutral coloured fabric. The sheets connect backwards to the feet of two men standing with their backs to the stage. There is a foreboding atmosphere to the image. SILENCE Production image. A man stands, with one hand raised in the air, looking out towards the audience. He has a scared expression on his face. In his left hand, he is holding a wooden stick. SILENCE Production image. Two women wearing earth-tones headscarves are walking across stage. One woman is holding a bundle of fabric over her shoulder, the other is gently resting a wooden chair down. A concerned looking man stands behind them, staring at the woman placing down the chair. SILENCE Production image. An older man sits, crying in a wooden chair. He is wearing neutral coloured clothing. SILENCE Production image. A woman stands gesturing with a pair of glasses in her hands. She is wearing neutral colours. She looks distressed

SILENCE

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A cathartic telling of events”
★★★★★ Behind The Arras

The 1947 partition of India saw millions uprooted and resulted in unspeakable violence. The partition resulted in the formation of three countries: India, West Pakistan and East Pakistan – now Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Few plays hit quite like SILENCE”
★★★★★ The New Current

SILENCE is a new play focused on communal storytelling –presenting a shared history inspired by the remarkable personal testimonies of people who lived through the last days of the British Raj. Commissioned to mark the 75th anniversary, SILENCE is adapted from Kavita Puri’s acclaimed book Partition Voices: Untold British Stories and was originally-produced with the Donmar Warehouse.

A deeply reflective and wide-ranging set of stories”
★★★★  LondonTheatre1

SILENCE sees the return of Iqbal Khan to directing at The Rep, after the success of his 5 star production Of Mice and Men in 2023. His credits also include Tartuffe (Birmingham Rep) and Othello (RSC), amongst others.

Associate Director Iqbal Khan said of the project:

I saw a version of this piece at the Donmar and was struck then with the power and ambition of Abdul’s initiative. He was a generous and radical artist, a leader keen to find new ways to embrace the unacknowledged or excluded.

His being taken from us is a terrible rupture, both personally and to the new community of artists and audiences he was engaging. It is a great privilege be asked by Tara Theatre to attempt to continue this work on SILENCE and make it all he hoped it could be as a production and urgent testimony.”

Price

From £18.50

Presented by

Tara Theatre

From an original co-production by Tara Theatre and Donmar Warehouse. In association with Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch.

Based on

Kavita Puri’s acclaimed book Partition Voices: Untold British Stories

Written by

Sonali Bhattacharyya, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Ishy Din and Alexandra Wood

Age Guidance

14+

Please note, no under 5s will be admitted to the auditorium.

Running time

Approximately 2 hours 5 minutes including an interval.

Content Advice

This production features flashing lights, loud noises and strong language.

Silence contains scenes that some people may find difficult to watch. 

Access Performances

Audio Described: Sat 27 Apr, 7.45pm (described by Carolyn Smith)

A Free Touch Tour is available to book before the Audio Described performance. 

Captioned: Sat 27 Apr, 2.45pm (captioned by Cara Lawless)

Post Show Talk

A post show talk will take place after the performance on Wed 24 Apr, 7.45pm.

Hosted by Artistic Director Natasha Kathi-Chandra, we welcome Kavita Puri and the cast of SILENCE for an intimate conversation and audience Q&A surrounding the legacy of Partition and the importance of staging political South Asian stories.

Special Offers

3 for 2: Add 3 shows into your basket and at checkout enjoy 33% off each production T&Cs apply – Find Out More

Fees & Charges

Please note there is a transaction fee of £3.50 on all payment types.

Venue

The Studio

Audience Reactions

Production Photography

1 /
SILENCE Production image. Two women stand in neutral-coloured garments, with their heads covered in long sheets of neutral coloured fabric. The sheets connect backwards to the feet of two men standing with their backs to the stage. There is a foreboding atmosphere to the image.

Photo by Harry Elleston

SILENCE Production image. A woman stands gesturing with a pair of glasses in her hands. She is wearing neutral colours. She looks distressed

Photo by Harry Elleston

SILENCE Production image. Two women wearing earth-tones headscarves are walking across stage. One woman is holding a bundle of fabric over her shoulder, the other is gently resting a wooden chair down. A concerned looking man stands behind them, staring at the woman placing down the chair.

Photo by Harry Elleston

SILENCE Production image. A man stands, with one hand raised in the air, looking out towards the audience. He has a scared expression on his face. In his left hand, he is holding a wooden stick.

Photo by Harry Elleston

SILENCE Production image. An older man sits, crying in a wooden chair. He is wearing neutral coloured clothing.

Photo by Harry Elleston

SILENCE Production image. A young man and an older woman sit, looking at each other on two wooden chairs. The young man is wearing a green hoodie and has a phone on a selfie stick in his hands, which rest on his lap. The older woman has her body facing the audience, but her face is turned completely to look at the young man. She is caressing his face.

Photo by Harry Elleston

SILENCE Production image. A man sits on a wooden chair under a spotlight. He is gesturing out towards the audience with a sad expression. Behind him a woman wearing a headscarf sits on the floor looking off towards the left of the image.

Photo by Harry Elleston

SILENCE Production image. A young woman and young man sit in the middle of a dark stage on wooden chairs. She is wearing a red denim jack and light washed jeans; he is wearing more traditional Indian clothing in a neutral tone. They are holding hands, and she is looking up at him with a look of fondness. Their faces are projected behind them.

Photo by Harry Elleston

SILENCE Production image. A man wearing a turban and a red Manchester United sweatshirt looks into the audience with a forlorn expression. He is holding the hand of a young girl, wearing a fluffy purple sweater, who is staring upwards at the man.

Photo by Harry Elleston

SILENCE Production image. An older woman wearing a yellow kurta is sitting down at a dining room table with a patterned tablecloth, she has a hand in the air with her pointer finger raised as if she is making a point to the audience. Behind her as older man, is also sitting at the table, smiling at a piece of paper in his hands.

Photo by Harry Elleston

Rehearsal Photography

1 /
A young man is standing under a spotlight, his head raised and hands clasped together as if in prayer.

Photo by Harry Elleston

Two men are standing looking at each other. The younger is wearing a light brown coloured sweatshirt with his hands on his hips

Photo by Harry Elleston

A older woman is sitting on a chair hugging another woman

Photo by Harry Elleston

A man in a long autumnal coloured scarf is holding a pair of reading glasses and gesturing as he talks to two actresses.

Photo by Harry Elleston

A young woman is kneeling in front of a older man. They are clutching each other hands.

Photo by Harry Elleston

A young man is standing with a serious expression on his face as he is carrying a wooden chair over his head.

Photo by Harry Elleston

A young woman is standing behind a wooden chair with her hands wrapped around the top of it. A young man is standing in the background also leaning on another chair.

Photo by Harry Elleston

A woman in a dark blue cardigan is gesturing towards a older man in a yellow shirt with a large grey beard.

Photo by Harry Elleston

Cast

Headshot of Alexandra D'Sa

Maya / Daughter

Alexandra D’Sa

Mandeep / Jasmine / Zara

Tia Dutt

Young Irfan / Tony / Noor’s Grandson / Sami

Aaron Gill

Pooja / Khadija / Noor

Mamta Kaash

Jasvir / Kulvinder / James

Asif Khan

Father / Irfan / Mukesh

Bhasker Patel

Creative Team

Original production directed and developed for tour by

Abdul Shayek

Director

Iqbal Khan

Set Design

Rachana Jadhav

Original Costume Design

Rose Revitt

Projection Design

Rachana Jadhav

Projection Design

Simeon Miller

Movement Direction

Seeta Patel

Lighting Design

Simeon Miller

Sound Design & Composition

Beth Duke

Casting

Polly Jerrold

Associate Direction

Olivia Millar Ross

Associate Costume Design

Malena Arcucci

Production Team

Executive Producer of Silence

Bella Rodrigues

Production Manager

Chloe Stally-Gibson

Costume Supervisor

Malena Arcucci

Company & Stage Manager

April Johnston

Deputy Stage Manager

Emily Davies

Assistant Stage Manager

Florian Lim

Wardrobe Manager

Sophia Raja

Production Video Engineer

Grace Duff

Production LX

Chris McDonnell

Sound and Video Technician

Grace Duff

Tour Re-Lighter & LX Operator

Chris McDonnell

Tara Theatre

Artistic Director

Natasha Kathi-Chandra

Executive Director

Helen Jeffreys

Head of Finance & Operations

Lisa Kerridge

Senior Producer

Neena Shea

Front of House & Building Manager

Ellie Oke

Interim Head of Marketing

Becca Pratt

Marketing Officer

Frederick Zennor

Technical Manager

Lisa Hood

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