Artistic director, Abdul Shayek, stamps his mark on this intergenerational performance piece that places the oral history of Bengali women at the forefront, merging past and present – an intimate theatrical gathering experience.

Dawaat is a punchy performance into the lives and experiences of British Bangladeshi women – the first of a trio of projects marking half a century of Bangladeshi independence, presented by the recently rebranded Tara Theatre. Immersive in (literally) every sense, the performance centres around a ‘dawaat’ (an invitation to a special feast to mark an occasion) put on by our protagonist Fatima (Gazi) and her daughter Maya (Hussain), as they explore the liberation war through a gendered lens.

After various setbacks due to the pandemic, Maya is offered a software engineering job in San Francisco. What follows is a poignant look at a relationship between mother and daughter, gradually reaching a climactic crescendo, consumed by feelings of loneliness, regret, love and resilience. This is a story about women being able to make choices because of the choices made by women before them.

The relationship is observed by the audience through partaking of the food at this ‘dawaat’, sitting at a large communal dining table, literally taking a seat at the feast. We are made to feel welcome as we observe at times the tense moments between mother and daughter. This intimacy, coupled with the seamless transition from dialogue to song (Sohini Alam provides the melodic vocals in Bangla), gives this performance an unconventionally warm spin from traditional theatrical fare. For all its familiarity to South Asian, and especially Bangla audiences though, some may find it difficult to understand (the puzzled responses at Fatima’s assertion that unmarried women should not move away from the family home is a particular good example).

Dawaat is a well-intentioned performance piece, where the personal and political intersect, collide and are negotiated, providing an experience that is unfortunately too scarce on the British multicultural stage. For all its admirable motivation in educating audiences through entertainment, the range of themes and histories covered may possibly be too many for such a short running time (50 minutes), and therefore, falling short of its own expectations. Nevertheless, Shayek, along with his actor-devisers, craft an extraordinary experience that on any level is a feat of Bangladeshi-led theatre.

Name of production | Dawaat

Year of production | 2021

Venue | Tara Theatre

Cast | Leesa Gazi, Halema Hussain, Oliver Weeks

Director | Abdul Shayek

Writer | Abdul Shayek

Music/Composer | Oliver Weeks, Sohini Alam (vocalist)

Designer/Lighting Designer | Rajiv Pattani

Movement Director | Nadia Ifttkhar

Sound Designer | Nevison Kusokora

| Check out more from Tara Theatre | Find out more about Abdul Shayek | See more from Leesa Gazi | Halema Hussain |

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