Tara Arts Group
 Tara Arts Group's headquarters in Earlsfield (2022) | |
| Tara Theatre | |
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Performing arts |
| Founded | 1977 |
| Founder | several, including Jatinder Verma |
| Headquarters | Tara Theatre, 356 Garratt Lane, , |
Number of employees | 9 (2024) |
| Subsidiaries | Tara Productions Limited, Tara Enterprises Limited |
| Website | https://taratheatre.com/ |
Tara Arts Group is a British Asian theatre company in London. It is based in the Tara Theatre in Earlsfield, and is one of Britain's oldest Asian theatre groups.[1] The company is known for its "Binglish" theatre form, which aims to "directly challenge or provoke the dominant conventions of the English stage".[2]
History
[edit]Tara Arts Group was co-founded by five Asian students, including Jatinder Verma, in 1977, in response to the racist murder of Gurdip Singh Chaggar, a Sikh teenager, in Southall. Its first production, of the play Sacrifice by Rabindranath Tagore, was held at the Battersea Arts Centre in 1977.[3][4] Other productions include an adaptation of The Merchant of Venice performed in 2005,[5] an adaptation of The Tempest performed in 2008,[6] and an adaptation of Macbeth performed in 2015 which employed hijras in place of the three witches.[7]
Tara Arts Group located to its Garratt Lane building in 1983, which was then known as the Tara Arts Centre. The building reopened in 2007 as a theatre venue. Permission was granted in 2012 to refurbish the building into a 100-seat theatre.[8] Refurbishment works completed in 2016 at a cost of £2.7 million, and the new building was officially opened by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.[9] In 2020, the Mayor of London approved a grant of up to £180,000 to secure the Tara Theatre building, citing Tara Arts being the only BAME-led theatre group in London which has its own building.[10]
Recognition
[edit]In 2023, Tara Theatre was awarded the Digital Innovation Award at the UK Theatre Awards.[11] It was also recognised by The Stage on its 2023 The Stage 100 list.[12]
References
[edit]- ^ "Britain's oldest Asian theatre reopens". BBC News. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ^ Hingorani, D. (2004). Binglishing Britain: Tara Arts: Journey to the West Trilogy. Contemporary Theatre Review, 14(4), 12–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/10486800412331296282
- ^ "Theatre pioneer Jatinder Verma: 'I was simply not wanted'". BBC News. 2020-01-07. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ^ "Tara Arts". SADAA. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ^ "BBC - Birmingham - Entertainment - The Merchant of Venice". BBC Local Birmingham. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ^ Billington, Michael (2008-01-12). "The Tempest". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ^ Chavda, Mrunal (2017-04-01). "Reconceptualising Witches as Hijras in Macbeth: Tara Arts' Adaptation". Journal of Teaching and Research in English Literature. 8 (2): 9–20. ISSN 0975-8828.
- ^ "Tara Theatre | Theatres Trust". Theatres Trust. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ^ Dex, Robert (2016-09-05). "Sadiq Khan revisits his roots to open refurbished theatre". The Standard. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ^ "MD2531 Tara Arts Group Building". London City Hall. Archived from the original on 2021-11-03. Retrieved 2025-06-12.
- ^ "UK Theatre Awards 2023". UK Theatre. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
- ^ "The Stage 100 2023: London theatres including Unicorn Theatre, the Almeida, the Bridge, Tara Theatre, BAC and the New Diorama". The Stage. Retrieved 2025-06-13.
External links
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- King, Barnaby. "Landscapes of Fact and Fiction: Asian Theatre Arts in Britain." New Theatre Quarterly 16, no. 1 (2000): 26–33. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266464X00013439.