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Indian talent is overflowing not just within our country, but globally. We’re thriving across industries, gaining recognition from East to West for our many accomplishments. I must admit, though, that I feel most proud when we’re uplifted for our artistry. As someone who grew up abroad, I witnessed the rampant stereotype that Indians can only succeed within STEM fields firsthand. Watching the world wake up to our incredible creativity, wit, and humour, is a triumph in the face of the reductive pigeon-holing we experience on a global scale.
The Soho Theatre in London is helping us flourish by platforming burgeoning South Asian creatives. The charity organisation spotlights up-and-coming writers, comedians, and theatre-makers, allowing them to shine in one of the world’s most notable theatre districts, the West End. For the past 20 years, Soho Theatre has been creating opportunities for Indian and South Asian comedians to perform in their own space, on tour, and at the world’s largest performing arts festival, the iconic Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
It’s also important to note that these opportunities are not only open to British diasporic artists but to homegrown creators as well. Through partnerships with Indian schools and theatre groups, Soho Theatre has encouraged cultural exchange by bringing South Asian creators to the UK and sending British performers to India. Their track record speaks for itself and they've worked with notable South Asian writers like Gurpreet Kaur Khatti, Tanika Gupta, and more.
Soho Theatre’s empowering work has not gone unnoticed and at the end of October, the theatre company was presented with an Asian Media Award for elevating South Asian voices. The Asian Media Awards honour groundbreakers in the British Media industry, celebrating the ways they forge paths ahead for their communities. Soho Theatre has now joined an exclusive sect of industry innovators, receiving well-deserved recognition for their role in the growing world of South Asian comedy and theatre.
As an aspiring young writer and ex-theatre kid, watching people who look like me, who were born on the same soil, take the stage makes my heart swell. I never yearned for a doctor’s salary or an engineer’s bragging rights. Instead, I was, and continue to be driven by a dream of my words touching someone’s heart, making someone laugh, or bringing them to tears. Soho Theatre and other South Asian creators remind me this is possible, and for that, I’m grateful.
