A Tainted Dawn (1997)

by Sudha Bhuchar and 
Kristine Landon-Smith

Marking the 50th anniversary of the partition of India, A Tainted Dawn tells the stories of ordinary people who found themselves trapped on the wrong side of hastily drawn borders in 1947. Tamasha was invited by the Edinburgh International Festival to open the play there in August 1997.  Music for the show was composed by Nitin Sawnhey, now a leading recording artist.

A Tainted Dawn was adapted from improvisations inspired by the following short stories: Postbox by S.H. Ajneya; A Leaf in the Storm by Lalithambika Antharjanam; Exile by Jamila Hashimi; An Indian Lauren Bacall by Leila Keys; Wages of Labour by Manto; The Vultures of the Parsi Cemetery by Ali Imam Naqvi,Lord of the Rubble by Mohan Rakesh;Pali and We have Arrived in Amritsarboth by Bhisham Sahni.

Credits

Director  Kristine Landon-Smith 
Designer  Sue Mayes 
Lighting Designer  Paul Taylor
Movement Director  Lawrence Evans
Composer  Nitin Sawhney
Sound  Tom Lishman 

Original Cast  Paul Bazely, Nizwar Karanj, Shaheen Khan, Parminder Nagra, Simon Nagra, Rehan Sheikh, Badi Uzzaman, Harvey Virdi

"I doubt if any theatre company, anywhere will bring the disappointment and disillusion of 1947 so grittily to life.” 
The Times