by Sudha Bhuchar, dir. Kristine Landon-Smith
A poignant look at the inheritance of loss in Asian families
GO ON...
Raj Rani’s heart is failing
Lila sings at the bedside to soothe Edna’s troubles
A girl is looking for her father’s hug
Shiv has been given a second chance and an “upgrade”
Through an autobiographical lens, Sudha Bhuchar shares fractured fragments and verbatim material underscored with iconic songs. As ‘Artist in Residence’ at East London Genes & Health (ELGH), Sudha Bhuchar is crafting Golden Hearts as a creative response; sharing her family’s personal experience of the legacy of heart disease which is mirrored in the communities in East London. The piece has been inspired by shared stories and song gathered through research and engagement work in the Asian Community, through ELGH’s volunteer programme and cardiology patients at St George’s hospital Tooting, where a scratch of Golden Hearts was first performed.
Extracts from 2013 Golden Hearts scratch event by Sudha Bhuchar Drawn from the personal experiences of close family and friends and inspired by stories from the Cardiology department at St Georges Healthcare NHS Trust as well as the late Consultant Cardiologist Dr Charles Pumphrey, Sudha Bhuchar's piece is a moving and thought provoking look at heart disease and in particular how it affects the Asian community.
WHAT TO EXPECT
The event is a ‘script in hand’ performance of a theatre piece which will be performed by a cast of seven, including Sudha Bhuchar, directed by Kristine Landon-Smith. There will be live singing underscoring the text and also at the beginning of the event.
WHO'S INVOLVED?
Sudha Bhuchar is an actor/playwright and co-founder of Tamasha theatre company. Her landmark plays include Small fish, big Cheese (Unicorn’s Class Acts festival), Child of the divide and most recently the critically acclaimed My Name is… Acting credits include Eastenders, Doctors, Stella for Sky TV. Sudha is currently appearing in Coronation Street.
ELGH is the world’s largest long term community based genetic study which will analyse the genes and health of 100,000 local people of Bangladeshi and Pakistani origin. The risk of dying early from heart disease is twice as high among South Asian groups compared with the general population.
What people are saying:
'What the play recognised was the potential for positive cross-cultural encounters' Samira Ahmed, journalist, writer & broadcaster
'You have something here I know a lot of Asians will connect to and others will be surprised and moved by' Satinder Chohan, writer Made In India
'It touches us in many ways; we witness great love and great loss, endings and new beginnings.' Karen Spicer, actor