Untold stories

They are talked about, but rarely do they have a voice of their own: the older Asian women of contemporary Britain. Is there a more invisible group today?

Maybe not, but now this group is being given a voice thanks to a pioneering piece of theatre from comedian and writer Sajeela Kershi. “These are kick-ass women who came from other countries to set up their lives and families somewhere completely alien. We often hear the stories of the men who came over, but we never hear about the women. The talk has been about them, but not to them and it’s never been their stories,” says Kershi. Until now.

Mother Tongues from Farther Lands features the stories of the fearless and endlessly fascinating women who came from South Asia to make a new home for their families in Britain.

Kershi always knew theirs was a story worth telling. “We’re not trying to ram a message down people’s throats, it tries to hold a mirror up to show what a community means to all of us. It can be a bit uncomfortable but that’s okay,” she says. “These women’s voices are voices that have simply been absent. Here they drive the narrative. As Asian women we live in a patriarchy, there is a gender imbalance and I think that is something that’s important to call out.”

The piece was commissioned by the London Southbank Centre project Alchemy, the largest UK festival inspired by South Asian culture. It also received support from Oldham Coliseum Theatre and Cast in Doncaster, where the show will be performed on June 3.

In order to create it, Kershi travelled to the various places where the piece was going to be staged and worked with women’s groups locally. “When I met these groups, certain themes kept reoccurring, in particular the sense that South Asians, especially women of a certain age, simply don’t show emotion,” says Kershi.

“Some of the women were telling me horrific stories about domestic abuse, about violence and control and they were speaking like they were reading out a shopping list. There was no emotion at all.” Kershi, as a stand up comedian, couldn’t help but look at the situation and find something funny. “In the room I could just feel a lot of tension. It was very odd. I could sense a lot of anger too. So I said look, let’s go round the room and just shout out a swear word each. The women were incredibly reluctant and I think the worst one of them could bring herself to say was ‘smelly git’. I kept going, encouraged them to let the anger out and suddenly the floodgates opened and there was all this swearing, followed by a fit of laughter.” It is that spirit Kershi has tried to capture in Mother Tongues from Farther Lands, something that doesn’t cover the blemishes, but celebrates these women for all they are. Taking the stories she heard and working with the cast including Shobu Kapoor and Shobna Gulati, Kershi devised a piece of work that finally gives a voice to the women who form the backbone of a community but have for so long been forced to remain silent.

Mother Tongues from Farther Lands will join other events at Cast celebrating South Asian culture.

Details castindoncaster.com