Lotus Beauty Programme

RA YA D

O

W

N S TA IR S

BY DEBORAH BRUCE DIRECTED BY ROXANA SILBERT

#H

TR

AY A

WELCOME Lotus Beauty is the last of the plays that we had to postpone when the pandemic arrived. It was originally set to run in May-June 2020, so it’s great to finally see it in front of an audience. We were thrilled when we first read this play in 2019 – it was such a confident piece of writing inhabited by vividly drawn characters in a unique and evocative setting. We rapidly organised a reading which proved so successful that we wasted no time in confirming a slot for production.

One of the most brilliant strokes of producing we pulled off for that proposed 2020 production was recruiting Pooja Ghai to direct it. I honestly couldn’t think of anybody better to direct the play. So we are truly delighted that she has stayed loyal to Satinder and Lotus Beauty throughout everything that has happened since the first lockdown. We were delighted, too, that during that time, she was appointed as Artistic Director of Tamasha, a leading company for Global Majority artists (their adaptation of A Fine Balance played Hampstead in 2006 and again in 2007). Pooja has not only remained loyal to the play, she has brought some of Tamasha’s expertise and resource with her. We are profoundly grateful for the association with them. She has assembled a brilliant team and extraordinary cast for the production: I hope you enjoy it as much as we have enjoyed putting it on.

ROXANA SILBERT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

THE

DAVINA MOSS

INTERVIEW

DM | Where did the idea for a play set in a beauty salon come from? Was it something that had been in your mind for a while?

SC | I was actually visiting a South Asian beauty salon in New York when the idea first took root (!), followed by a visit to a beauty parlour in Punjab not long after, about a decade and a half ago. As both Indian salon workers deftly threaded my eyebrows, I remember thinking how much the female workers, clients and ladies-only spaces reminded me of my regular beauty salon in West London and about so many more interconnecting threads (ok - I’ll get my shawl). Distance offered clarity and sparked myriad story/character ideas.

DM | And is the salon in the play based on a real salon?

SC | The play isn’t based on a real salon but it’s certainly inspired by Neelam’s wonderful Beauty Room in Southall, my regular place of minor eyebrow threading and upper lip waxing for over two decades!

I’ve seen Neelam’s business grow and blossom from a tiny stall space in Liberty Market, Southall to its present-day location as a bigger, thriving salon space. I actually did a month’s research there, even working as an occasional receptionist, interviewing some clients – ideas and conversations that fed into early drafts of the play. But the dark aspects of the play couldn’t be further from the super-lovely women, the joys, loving space and skilful treatments of the Beauty Room!

DM | The salon environment allows the audience ‘confessional’ access to the different generations of South Asian women. Was that fun to write?

SC | Though I love it and it’s all I want to do, writing is almost never fun for me! But this is the most conversational of my

plays and I really did enjoy trying to capture the generational contrasts between the women through dialogue. In fact, I drew on my mother (aka ‘Big Mum’) and her generation for ‘Big Dhadhi’ and my nephew Jaskirat was my Pinky teen lingo consultant!

That was a fun process. Salon spaces are so fascinating for all their spoken and unspoken verbal and physical interactions – constantly shifting spaces of beauty, conversation, confession, sanctuary, pain, healing and community.

DM | They are fantastically well-drawn characters – there’s a really easy familiarity – much as if they are drawn from life…

SC | I feel like every character is a reallife mash up of and inspired by so many hard-working, funny, feisty women in the community that I have seen, know, love, admire – so I hope they feel even a little familiar to some audiences. It’s the first produced play I have wholly set in Southall too, so it’s the most personal I’ve written and inevitable that I have drawn from reallife. My previous plays were set in India or between India and Southall, so it was really creatively nourishing to immerse myself in more lived experience. I also wanted to honour the lives of brave women like Navjeet Sidhu, who tragically died by suicide there in 2005.

DM | And Southall is almost like an additional character in the play… is that where you grew up?

SC | Yes, I grew up in Southall and thanks to my meagre income as a writer, I still live there! But seriously, I’m a hugely proud Southallwali (a word?). My inspirational grandparents moved there over six decades ago and generations on, we’re still there.

Southall roots and grounds me. I grew up in late 70s/80s Southall when the authorities

HAMPSTEAD THEATRE’S LITERARY MANAGER TALKS TO THE WRITER

SATINDER CHOHAN failed to defend immigrant rights (as they still fail to do) and the community kicked back against Thatcher’s Britain. It was a time of great solidarity, when people stood together and fought for one another. That defiant, indefatigable community spirit, Southall’s working-class immigrant roots and its manifold untold stories strongly infuse my work and shape my values.

DM | And has it changed a lot since then?

SC | The beautiful melting pot of immigrant diversity has only strengthened – Indians, Pakistanis, African-Caribbeans, Somalis live alongside Sri Lankans, Afghans, Nepalese, Eastern Europeans, as more communities join. But Southall’s proximity to Heathrow and Central London always made it an eventual target for gentrification. Sadly, that profit-making time is now. While it’s great we’re on the Crossrail map, the ugly (high-rise) corporate developments, their toxic environmental fall-outs, the corporate rebranding of Southall and sale of community assets like the Carnegie library (where I dreamt of being a writer) or more recently, the ladies-only gym (where our actor Zainab is a member) threaten the unique spirit of our community.

DM | In some ways the play feels like a tribute to the fighting spirit of Southall women – I mean there’s a fantastic history of activism there… tell me a bit about that…

SC | Southall has such a proud history of activism, shaped by pioneering previous generations, anti-racist, immigrant and working-class struggles and resistance.

Even with 1979’s Southall Uprising, the community defended itself from the far-right when national and local authorities and the police did not. Despite more traditional constraints, Southall women took to the streets too. They also bravely led strike

action when badly exploited and appallingly treated by employers – such as in the landmark Gate Gourmet and Hillingdon Hospital Workers (where my mother once worked) disputes. They ran family homes, raised kids, worked jobs - did it all. The play honours both the strong, resilient women who have upheld and uphold our communities but also those who have had to step away. Lotus Beauty is also a much bigger story about the emotional labour and the immigrant/colonial trauma that women especially, carry in our communities, over generations.

DM | Of course, although men are a major topic of discussion in the salon, we are seeing these women without them present… Would their presence completely change the dynamic?

SC | Yes. Sometimes, it’s liberating to be in a women’s only public space without worrying what a man might say, think or behave. As in real-life, women connect and conflict differently when we’re together (as men do), maybe sometimes in a deeper, even more truthful way. These women would be different characters if men were part of the play. They would be sharing very different conversations too. Even if offstage, the men are ever-present in these women’s lives. But as in life, Lotus Beauty is an all too rare moment for women only to take rightful centre-stage.

SATINDER CHOHAN

SOME KEY POST-WAR MOMENTS FOR THE UK’S SOUTH ASIAN WOMEN 1950s

1960s

The first group of South Asians arrived in Southall to work in a local factory owned by a former British Indian Army officer.

Men from middle-ranking families in 1974 Punjab, particularly those employed in the colonial army or the police, took up this opportunity. Those who decided to settle in the UK were eventually joined by their wives and extended families. The Punjabi migrants found work in the manufacturing, textile and the service sectors.

This South Asian population of Southall grew, due to the increased local employment opportunities such as the new London Heathrow Airport (1966).

1976

1962

The new Commonwealth Immigrants Act imposes stringent restrictions on the entry of Commonwealth citizens to the UK. (The Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 and Immigration Act 1971 further restricted free movement).

1963

11 English local authorities - including Ealing, where Southall is located declared there should be ‘no more than 30% of immigrants at any one school.’

Over 50 coaches collected hundreds of mainly Asian children from ‘pick up’ points in Southall and dropped them at schools JUNE elsewhere. Despite campaigning by the 1976 Indian Workers’ Association, bussing only ended in 1981.

1968

1972

Kenyan government discrimination caused mass immigration of Kenyan Asians to the 23 UK, where the government rushed through APR legislation making a “close connection” 1979 with the UK mandatory. The exodus had a dire effect on the East African Asians, the majority of whom migrated to the United Kingdom; it was worse for the women, many of whom, due to increasing wealth and westernization of the Asian diaspora in East Africa, were business owners.

Idi Amin, President of Uganda, gave his country’s Asian minority 90 days to leave.

Stripped of all they owned, over 28,000

Ugandan Asians, began arriving in the UK to be resettled, women first among them.

They were passed through resettlement camps, moved into cities like Leicester, rehoused and employed.

Asian workers, 70% of the work force at Imperial Typewriters, found white colleagues were getting better bonuses and more flexible working arrangements.

39 workers – mostly Asian women walked out and were soon joined by another 500. Their union refused to make the strike official, but despite the lack of official support demonstrators organised picket lines, publicity campaigns and mass meetings.

Jayaben Desai walked out of the Grunwick photo processing laboratory in North London in response to demands for unplanned overtime, sparking one of the most bitter strikes in British labour history. Grunwick was institutionally sexist and racist; it paid badly and did not permit union membership. Jayaben Desai led 137 striking workers – out of 500 - who joined a union and by June 1977 had up to 20,000 people joining mass pickets. A House of Lords ruling upheld the company’s right not to recognise a union. The action lasted nearly two years.

Gurdip Singh Chaggar, 18, was stabbed to death by Skinheads in Southall. Young people took to the streets to protest, forming the Southall Youth Movement (SYM).

The National Front planned a public pre-election meeting at Southall Town Hall. A massive sit down ‘hartal’ (Indian civil disobedience) protest commenced outside the Town Hall. Thousands of men and women took part. The NF were safely ushered into their meeting while a 2750 strong police force tried to control protestors. In the intense violence that ensued, activist and teacher Blair Peach was beaten to death by police officers.

Despite many witnesses, no officers were charged.

2005

Airline catering company Gate Gourmet replaced staff with cheaper workers without warning. Gate Gourmet claimed there were up to 200 “radicals” among the 670 mainly Asian women who were sacked and that they would not be taken back. 56 of them brought a case for unfair dismissal to the Employment Tribunal which they lost.

2006

80 out of 240 rail suicides in Britain happened on the stretch of track running through Southall, Slough and other areas with large Asian communities.

2011

The census shows that, Southall Broadway ward had the lowest proportion of White British residents in the UK at 3.5%. 93.7% of Southall Broadway’s population was Black, Asian and minority Ethnic.

1979

The Southall Black Sisters organisation – SBS - was founded to support Black and Asian women’s rights.

OCT 1979

Asian women workers at the Chix confectionery factory in Slough went on strike demanding recognition of their union, staying out for eight months until they won.

FEB 1979

The Guardian reported on gynaecological examinations known as ‘virginity testing’ being given by immigration staff to South Asian women seeking entry to the UK to verify their marital status.

1991

Launch of the Free Kiranjit Ahluwalia campaign, a woman given a life sentence for killing her violent husband. Her conviction was reduced to manslaughter.

1993

Karma Nirvana became the first specialist charity for victims and survivors 2010 of Honour Based Abuse in the UK. -2014

1 OCT 1995

1998

DEC 1998

APR 2005

AUG 2005

56 domestic and catering workers at Hillingdon Hospital were sacked by private contractor Pall Mall for refusing to accept a £40 per week wage cut. The strike continued until October 2000 when workers returned to work on their original terms and conditions.

270 employees of Skychefs in-flight catering – mostly Asian women - sacked after a legal one-day strike. This dispute was resolved in 2000 via reinstatement or compensation.

Surjit Kaur Athwal, a customs officer at Heathrow, was murdered in an honour killing in India. She was 27 and had two children.

Samaira Nazir, a 25-year-old who refused an arranged marriage, murdered by her brother and cousin in an honour killing in Southall.

Navjeet Sidhu jumped in front of the Heathrow Express with her two young children at Southall Station. All three died. Six months later, her mother killed herself in the same place.

There were 18 recorded cases of ‘honour killing’ and 11,000 incidences of ‘honour’ crime recorded by UK police ranging from forced marriage to FGM. There are estimated to be 12-15 so called ‘honour killings’ in the UK every year.

2014

A new law in England and Wales was passed making it a criminal offence to force people into marriage.

2018

Rates of attempted suicide among South Asian women were two-and-a-half times more than white women.

2019

The government announced its decision to stop charging forced marriage victims for their repatriation.

MAR 2021

As cases of domestic abuse soared in the UK over the past year, the Sikh Women’s Action Network said that calls about domestic abuse increased 244% during lockdown.

OCT 2021

The number of honour-based abuse offences recorded by the police soared by 81% over the previous 5 years.

CLARE LATHAM

ZAINAB HASAN, KIRAN LANDA & ANSHULA BAIN

SOUAD FARESS

SATINDER CHOHAN & POOJA GHAI

KIRAN LANDA & ULRIKA KRISHNAMURTI

CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM SATINDER CHOHAN WRITER

Satinder is a journalist and documentary researcher/AP turned playwright, who graduated with an MA in English Language and Literature from Yale University.

Theatre work includes Zameen (Kali Theatre Company, UK tour); KabaddiKabaddiKabaddi (Pursued By A Bear Theatre Company, regional tour); Made In India (Tamasha Theatre Company and Belgrade Theatre in association with Pilot Theatre, UK tour – Best Production Award at the Eastern Eye Awards and OFFIE nomination); Half of Me (Tamasha, Lyric Hammersmith/UK tour); Gulliver’s Travels (co-adapted with Mike Kenny, Bolton Octagon) and The Girl of Ink and Stars (adaptation for Spark Arts, East Midlands tour).

She received the Adopt A Playwright Award 2013-2014, completed an Emerging Writer’s Residency at Traverse Theatre and was previously on attachment at Hampstead Theatre.

An Associate Artist with Sphinx Theatre, she is currently developing Empire of the Mind (Kali Theatre/Tamasha coproduction); a young adult novel A Beautiful Lie about Partition (Tara Arts) and Mia and the Fish for the National Theatre’s Connections.

Her audio dramas include an adaptation of Pam Gem’s Camille (BBC Radio 3 broadcast June 2022); Garlands (BBC Radio 3); Scar Tissue (Tamasha/Migration Museum) and Steam Rises (Tamasha/ National Archives).

She is also currently completing her DYCP year for novel Pind about the Punjabi diaspora and developing a short film: Bussing.

POOJA GHAI DIRECTOR

Pooja is Artistic Director of Tamasha Theatre Company, Associate Artist for Kali Theatre Company and was Associate Director of the Theatre Royal, Stratford East 2015-2018.

Theatre work includes A Swallow’s Kiss (Southbank Centre); Seriously Annoying (Tin Cat Entertainment, Arcola Outside); Monologues 2020 (Tara Theatre); Underlying Conditions (World Theatre Lab, Stream On Productions - online play); Love and Information and The Cherry Orchard (both Guildhall); Approaching Empty (Tamasha/Kiln/Live); Blue Stockings (East 15); Rapunzel (Theatre Royal, Stratford East); Lions and Tigers (Wanamaker Playhouse, Shakespeare’s Globe - Eastern Eye Awards for Best Director); Counting Stars and The House of In Between (both Theatre Royal, Stratford East); The Empress (Embassy); The Accordion Shop (Leicester Curve/Warwick Arts Centre); As You Like It (Ellen Terry Theatre); 13 (Corbett Theatre); The Difference (Rich Mix Theatre Company, Soho); Bobby & Gina (Pavilion); Female of the Species (Global Café, London); Top Girls (Edinburgh Fringe Festival); Metamorphosis (Burton-Taylor Theatre, Oxford/Edinburgh Fringe) and Getting On (Burton-Taylor Theatre Studio, Oxford).

Dance work as Dramaturg includes Meeting (The Place); Vestige (Wilton’s Music Hall/UK tour) and A Vestige (Stephen Joseph Theatre/The Place).

ANSHULA BAINS PINKY Anshula is a Drama and Film graduate from the University of Manchester. She trained with the National Youth Theatre, Royal Exchange Youth Company and the Almeida Youth Company.

Her theatre credits include Tartuffe (Birmingham Rep); Imaam Imraan ( National Youth Theatre); (This Isn’t) A True Story (Almeida) and Nothing (Royal Exchange, Manchester).

SOUAD FARESS BIG DHADHI Theatre work includes Welcome to Iran (Theatre Royal, Stratford East/ National Theatre); The Wisdom Club (Theatre Royal, Bury St Edmunds); The Village (Theatre Royal, Stratford East); Goats (Royal Court); Winter Hill (Octagon); Chilcot (Lowry/BAC/National Theatre Studios); Hurried Steps (New Shoes Theatre); White Privilege (Yard); Tiger Country (Hampstead Theatre); The Permanent Way (National Theatre); Homebody/ Kabul (Young Vic) and The Great Celestial Cow (Royal Court).

Film work includes Dune; Cruella; Made in Italy; Taroof; Christopher Robin; London Bridge; Sixth Happiness (EMMA award winner); My Beautiful Launderette (Oscar nominated) and Bhaji on the Beach.

Television work includes Back to Life; Doctors; Porters (series 2); The Spy; Brief Encounters (series regular); Game of Thrones; Berlin Station; Prime Suspect II; Inspector Morse; Hollyoaks; The Sarah Jane Adventures; Silent Witness; Holby City; Law and Order; The Bill; Trial and Retribution; Casualty; Family Affairs; EastEnders and Coronation Street.

Souad has a long radio history, including The Archers (series regular since 1990).

She also writes plays and short stories and directs.

ZAINAB HASAN TANWANT Theatre work includes Rice (Actors Touring Theatre Company - Orange Tree); The Welkin (National Theatre); Blank (Donmar); Timon of Athens; Tartuffe and Tamburlaine (all RSC); Hijabi Monologues (Bush); The Tempest (Donmar/St Ann’s Warehouse, NY); Shakespeare Trilogy (Donmar); Boy (Almeida); Henry IV (St. Ann’s Warehouse NY); Henry IV (Donmar); Tory Boyz; Romeo and Juliet and Prince of Denmark (all Ambassadors).

Work as a Writer includes Writing Wrongs (Donmar).

Television work includes Casualty and Maryland.

ULRIKA KRISHNAMURTI KAMAL Theatre work includes Satyagraha (Improbable/English National Opera); Around World in 80 Days (York Theatre Royal); Checkpoint Chana (Finborough); Pink Sari Revolution (Belgrade/Curve/WYP/Northern Stage); Made in India (Soho/UK tour); Echoes Within Walls (FIRST 2016 Solo Festival); The Government Inspector and Twefth Night (both Guildford School of Acting); Commencing (Tristan Bates); Twelve (Kali Theatre) and Mahabharata (Sutradhar).

Television work includes Holby City.

Film work includes The Anushree Experiments; London Paris New York and Rockford.

KIRAN LANDA

MATT HASKINS

REITA

LIGHTING DESIGNER

Kiran trained at the Television Workshop in Nottingham.

Theatre work includes Extinct (one woman play - Theatre Royal, Stratford East); War Horse (National Theatre/World tour); Primetime (Royal Court); Great Expectations (English Touring Theatre/Watford Palace); Arabian Nights (RSC) and Dov and Ali (Theatre503).

Film work includes Jadoo: Kings of Curry and Shoot on Sight.

Television work includes Coronation Street (12 episodes); Ackley Bridge; 4 O’Clock Club; Line of Duty; Hollyoaks; Scott and Bailey; Doctors and Wire in the Blood.

Podcast series work includes Mask of Sanity.

ROSA MAGGIORA DESIGNER Recent theatre work includes Notes on Grief (Manchester International Festival); Love and Information (Guildhall); Zorro the Musical (Charing Cross Theatre/Hopemill, Manchester); Hobson’s Choice (Royal Exchange, Manchester); Approaching Empty (Kiln); Lions and Tigers (Wanamaker Playhouse – Shakespeare’s Globe); Nina, A Story About Me and Nina Simone (Young Vic/UK tour/Sweeden tour); Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin (Theatre Royal, Stratford East/Belgrade Theatre); The Wiz (Birmingham Rep/West Yorkshire Playhouse); Starstruck; Not Black and White; Women, Power and Politics and Stones in His Pockets (all Tricycle); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Almeida/Edinburgh Festival); Free Outgoing (Royal Court/Edinburgh Festival); The Penelopiad (RSC Stratford/National Arts Theatre, Canada); Anansi and the Magic Mirror (Hackney Empire); Mother Courage (Nottingham Playhouse/Hackney Empire/UK tour); Everyman (RSC/USA tour); A River Sutra (Three Mills Island Studios); Shakuntala (Gate); Making the Future (Young Vic); Easter (RSC, Barbican); No Boys Cricket Club and Party Girls (both Theatre Royal, Stratford East) and Happy Days (Glasgow Citizens).

Theatre work includes Raya; The Cost of Living; I & You; Wilderness; The Strange Death of John Doe; No One Will Tell Me How to Start a Revolution and Kiss Me (all Hampstead Theatre); Zorro (Hope Mill Theatre); The Lovely Bones (Birmingham Rep); Nina (Young Vic/Unity Theatre); Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Apollo); Truth and Reconciliation (Royal Court); Hobson’s Choice (Royal Exchange) and The Last Five Years (New Wolsey).

Opera work includes Coraline (Barbican); The Snowmaiden; Hansel & Gretel; La Cenerentola; La Traviata; Don Giovanni; The Turn of the Screw and Cautionary Tales (all Opera North); The Commission; Café Kafka; Glare and The Virtues of Things (all ROH); A Quiet Place (Opera Zuid); Wuthering Heights (Opéra national de Lorraine); Sukanya (Festival Hall); La Cenerentola (Irish National Opera); Anna Bolena; Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux (all Welsh National Opera); Roméo et Juliette and Der Fliegende Holländer (both Estonian National Opera).

ZAINAB HASAN, ANSHULA BAIN & KIRAN LANDA

BEN AND MAX RINGHAM

CASSIA THAKKAR

COMPOSERS/SOUND DESIGNERS

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR

Recent theatre work includes Blindness (Donmar/World tour); Gulliver’s Travels (Unicorn); Dial M for Murder (UK tour); Pass Over (Kiln); The Haystack (Hampstead Theatre); Queen Anne (RSC/Haymarket Theatre); Party Skills for the End of the World (MIF); King Lear (Chichester Festival Theatre); Persuasion (Manchester Royal Exchange); Ugly Lies the Bone (National Theatre) Killer (Shoreditch Town Hall); Pygmalion (Headlong); Pitchfork Disney (Shoreditch Town Hall); The Mighty Walzer (Manchester Royal Exchange); Faustus (Duke of York’s); Lunch/The Bow of Ulysses; The Maids; The Ruling Class; Richard III; The Pride and The Hothouse (all Trafalgar Studios); The Painkiller and The Miser (both Garrick); La Musica (Young Vic); The Mentalists (Wyndham’s); We Want You to Watch (National Theatre); Ah, Wilderness! (Young Vic); 2071 (Royal Court); Minetti (EIF); Adler & Gibb (Royal Court); Fiction (UK tour); Blithe Spirit (Gielgud/US tour); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Michael Grandage Company); Lungs (Berlin Schaubühne) and The World of Extreme Happiness (National Theatre).

Cassia trained at the University of Cambridge.

Theatre work includes The Passion (Corpus Playrooms, White Bear Theatre, Golden Goose); Losing game (Portland Arms); Queen Anne (ADC Theatre); The Marlowe Showcase (Etcetera Theatre); Macbeth and Angels in America: Perestroika (both ADC Theatre) and Great Mother Iya Ayaba (NSDF).

THE TEAM POOJA GHAI ARTISTIC DIRECTOR VALERIE SYNMOIE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / CEO DEBO ADEBAYO LEAD PRODUCER TUYET VAN HUYNH DIGITAL PRODUCER SAMIA DJILLI ASSISTANT PRODUCER AITOR GONZALEZ ADMINISTRATOR MANDEEP GIL FINANCE MANAGER REMA CHANDRAN MARKETING

GURKIRAN KAUR VOICE & DIALECT COACH Gurkiran trained at Royal Holloway University of London, The Bridge Theatre Training Company and The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Theatre work includes Extinct (Theatre Royal, Stratford East); Queens of Sheba (Soho); NW Trilogy (Kiln); How to Save the Planet When You’re a Young Carer and Broke (Roundhouse); Best of Enemies (Young Vic); Red Pitch (Bush) and Henry VIII (Shakespeare’s Globe).

Television work includes Good Karma Hospital.

ANSHULA BAIN & SOUAD FARESS

HAMPSTEAD STAFF DIRECTORS

DEVELOPMENT

Zeinab Badawi Tania Black Susie Boyt Gillian Budd Irene Dorner (Chair) Nese Guner Adam Jones Paul Kanareck Marie-Michelle Kegne Sika Simon Parry-Wingfield Karen Paul Sue Prevezer

Director of Development Cathy Baker* Development Manager Sally Wilson* Development Manager Ilaria Pizzichemi*

ADVISORY COUNCIL Dame Jenny Abramsky DBE Sir Michael Codron CBE Michael Frayn Daniel Peltz Peter Phillips OBE Paul Rayden Patricia Rothman

LITERARY Associate Director Tessa Walker Literary Manager Davina Moss* Writer-in-Residence Deborah Bruce MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS

Irene Dorner Nese Guner Paul Kanareck (Chair) Sue Prevezer

Marketing Manager Grace Organ* Creative Content and Communications Manager Chiara Wakely* Head of Press and PR Clare McCormack* Programme Editor Pascale Giudicelli Design SWD www.swd.uk.com

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

TECHNICAL

Roxana Silbert*

Technical Director Hilary Williamson* Head of Stage Michael Francis* Deputy Head of Stage Aubrey Turner* Head of Lighting Miguel Figueiredo* Deputy Head of Lighting Hannah Fisher*

DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Greg Ripley-Duggan* PRODUCING Director of Operations & Associate Producer Neil Morris* Production and Casting Coordinator Katharine Noble* Production Assistant Hannah Lyall* FINANCE Finance Controller Ashok Shah Finance Manager Wendy Teng

BOX OFFICE Head of Ticketing & Digital Services Joanne Boniface* Box Office & Access Manager Hannah Gill* Box Office & Access Manager (Maternity Cover) Chloe Burton*

Roxana Silbert image KRIS ASKEY

Box Office Assistants Katie Beudert Catherine Carnegie Charlotte Clark Daniel Gonzalez Charley Ive Lanna Joffery Annie Kershaw Kit Osmon Callum Tilbury FRONT OF HOUSE AND CATERING Head of Catering Assunta Dogali* Head of Front of House Colm Tracey* Duty Managers Patrick Bayele Lily Hannant Lana Joffrey Sean Jones Rebecca Prentice Rebecca Windsor Charlotte Yve Bar Duty Managers Georgijs Gaisins Thomas Ghaleb Juliet Mann Bar Staff Marin Berisa Kieran Capaldi Georgijs Gaisins Josh Goulding David Alvaro Griffiths Inyoung Lee Johnny Lee Elvis Radulescu Roberto Tallerico Rebeka Torok Ros Watt Emily Wilson-Knight Front of House Staff Ushers Eleanor Adams Felicia Akin-Adaramola Michael Antwi Patrick Bayele Grace Carroll Jack Cameron Charlotte Clark Grace Cordell Geraldine Curtis Josline Dcosta Natalie Elliott Esther Foga Michaela Forssblad

Lily Hannant Kara Hakanson Felicity Hughes Charlotte Ive Aaron Jackson Rees Jenkins Ruth Jones Remi King Michael Larcombe Amal Mahmoud Jasmin Mandi-Ghomi Jessica Manu Annabel Marlow Linda McDade Marta Mazur Raquel Nieto Rebecca Norfolk Aurore Nzazi Anne-Marie O’Brien Saskia O’Hara Bill Palmer Bailey Pepper Sherwin Ramzani Douki Carla Rudgyard Kieran Salt Omar Shafiuzzaman Elliot Sheppard Kate Sketchley Poppy Smailes Omaia Smith Phoebe Spence-Evans Jane Staiano Dominika Ucar Zachary Wilcox Betty Williams Singh Hosts Eleanor Adams Natalie Elliott Kara Hakanson Felicity Hughes Jessica Manu Saskia O’Hara Kate Sketchley Carla Rudgyard Zachary Wilcox Betty Williams Singh Rebecca Windsor Cleaner Paul Jachie *Full time employees

SOUAD FARESS, KIRAN LANDA & POOJA GHAI

SOUAD FARESS, ANSHULA BAIN, ZAINAB HASAN & KIRAN LANDA

ULRIKA KRISHNAMURTI

POOJA GHAI

KIRAN LANDA & ZAINAB HASAN

PATRONS AND SUPPORTERS INDIVIDUALS CREATIVE BENEFACTORS Anonymous Celia & Edward Atkin CBE Veronica & Lars Bane Erin Bell & Michael Cohen Tania & Keith Black Sir Trevor & Lady Chinn Lin & Ken Craig Barbara & Mick Davis Irene Dorner David Dutton Simon & Claire Godwin Ros & Alan Haigh Adam Jones Kajatawa Foundation Andrew & Marina Newington The Ostrich Charitable Trust Simon & Midge Palley Alison & Simon Parry-Wingfield Karen & Ian Paul Helen Payne & Matthew Greenburgh Susan Schoenfeld Harrington Fredrik & Helene Stenmo Katja & Nicolai Tangen Mary Ellen & Tom Wanty Sonia & Mattias Westman PATRONS Standing Ovation Celia & Edward Atkin CBE Helen Payne & Matthew Greenburgh Encore Heather Acton Anonymous Tania & Keith Black Sir Trevor & Lady Chinn Irene Dorner Ros & Alan Haigh Melanie J. Johnson Adam Jones Jimmy & Philippa Strauss David Tyler & Margaret Fingerhut Opening Night Jocelyn Abbey & Tom Carney Anonymous Liz & Mark Astaire Mrs Elizabeth & Mr Todd Berman Gillian & Tom Budd Russ & Linda Carr Natalie Greenwold Madeleine Hodgkin Denise & Arnold Holle Irina & Russell Jacobs Caroline Macdonald & David Simmons Alexandra Marks CBE Simon & Midge Palley Lady Rayne Sue & Tony Rosner Lucy & Joe Smouha Karl Treacy Claire Tremeer & Bob Reichert Roland & Sarah Turnill Carole & David Warren Sue Woodford-Hollick Preview Bob Ainscow Anonymous Kay & Jim Ashton Niall Booker Dorothy & John Brook Jules & Cheryl Burns Barry & Deborah Buzan Paul & Fiona Cartwright Richard & Robin Chapman Dr John L Collins & Mrs Isabel C H Collins Compliance on Demand David Dutton Gary & Carol Fethke

Michael Frayn Ian & Margaret Frost Jackie & Michael Gee Jacqueline & Jonathan Gestetner Toni & Henny Goldenberg Alexander Graham Pamela, Lady Harlech Andrew Harrington & Susan Schoenfeld Harrington Claudia & Christopher Harris Sir Michael & Lady Heller Zmira & Rodney Hornstein John Hyatt Dr Alison Jones Jean-Charles & Luce Julien Paul & Cherry Kanareck Ralph & Patricia Kanter Alex & Grace Kay Ian & Deborah Kelson Nicola Kerr Janet Langdon Valerie & Kim Latchford Wilson & Mabel Lee J Leon Charitable Fund Sir Sydney Lipworth QC & Lady Lipworth CBE Frances Lynn Alan Maclean Julia & Julian Markson The Philip Marsden Family Charitable Trust Elizabeth & Ashley Mitchell Catherine & Garry Monaghan Nigel Moore Andrew & Marina Newington Alison & Simon Parry-Wingfield Karen & Ian Paul Penny & Richard Peskin Jane & Nick Prentice The Price Family The Raven Charitable Trust Kathleen Roberts Nese Guner Rosborough & Angus Rosborough The Rubin Foundation Sandra Scott Bhags Sharma Margo & Nicholas Snowman OBE Jane Stanton Josi & Alan Steinfeld QC Jan Stolle Tobyn & Sam Thomas Andreas & Claudia Utermann Charitable Trust Peggy Vance C Walsh & D Gutierrez Gonzalez Sophie & Stephen Warshaw Stephan & Samantha Wilcke Richard & Susan Wolff Tom Young Dress Rehearsal Anonymous Nick Barnes Ian Bell Ben-Levi Family Katie Bradford Steven & Miriam Bruck Pat Chadwick Fatma Charlwood John & Susan Coldstream Lord & Lady Collins of Mapesbury Leigh & Lena Collins Meera Cortesi Allan & Sylvia Cowen Loraine da Costa Mr & Mrs Devlin Jane Dodd Jenny Dover Robyn Durie Sally & Steven Dyson Mrs Judith Ezekiel Vera Farrants Françoise Findlay Martin Fisher Gail & Michael Flesch

Sue Fletcher Jane & Nigel Franklin Baroness Garden Elaine & Peter Hallgarten Mark Hamsher & Elna Jacobs Frank & Belinda Harding Ronnie & Loretta Harris Florence & Neil Hasson Gillian & Barry Howard Doris & Terry Hugh Roda Infield Alan & Louise Jacobs Nina Kaye Gillian King Edna Kissmann Roger & Yvette Kutchinsky Anne & Brian Lapping Rose & Dudley Leigh Vivien Lewis Dr Josephine Likierman Amanda May Miranda McArthur Bob McDonald Geoffrey Mitchell Sandy Montague Jonathan Mussellwhite & Daphne Walker Hilary Page & Michael Rosenberg Julia Palca & Nicolas Stevenson Deborah & Clive Parritt Sir Brian & Lady Pomeroy Livia Prior Pippa & Bob Rothenberg Michael & Gail Sandler Elizabeth Selzer Barry Serjent Lucy & Jonathan Silver Brian Smith Victoria Stark James & Imogen Strachan Mr & Mrs Susini Robert & Patricia Swannell Romie Tager QC & Mrs Esther Tager Peter Tausig Lisa Tedeschini & Bruce Rigal Anthony & Jacqueline Todd Vicky Unwin Marina Vaizey Mr & Mrs Van Aeken - De Wulf Gerry Wakelin Guy & Annabel Wilson David & Vivienne Woolf J. Wrightson Joanne & Nick Young Corporate Supporters Bennetts Associates Linklaters Nyman Libson Paul TRUSTS AND FOUNDATIONS The AKO Foundation Veronica & Lars Bane Foundation The Dorset Foundation The Rothenberg Family * The Sobell Foundation * Theatres Trust Garfield Weston Foundation * Access Programme HAMPSTEAD DOWNSTAIRS Andor Charitable Trust Catkin Pussywillow Charitable Trust The John S Cohen Foundation Clore Duffield Foundation Foyle Foundation Simon & Claire Godwin In Memory of Douglas McArthur Andrew & Marina Newington The Gerald and Gail Ronson Family Foundation The Rothenberg Charitable Foundation

Royal Victoria Hall Foundation The Vandervell Foundation Mary Ellen & Tom Wanty HAMPSTEAD THEATRE LITERARY FUND Adèle Bennett Legacy The Estate of Margaret Lowy The Estates of Peter Anthony Lund and David Gavin Lund In Memory of Henry & Esther Rudolf THE T.S. ELIOT COMMISSIONING FUND The T.S. Eliot Foundation INSPIRE The Noël Coward Foundation Fenton Arts Trust Garrick Charitable Trust Rodney & Zmira Hornstein The Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation

LOTUS BEAUTY THE CAST OF LOTUS BEAUTY

WKG Print are proud to support the programme for the Hampstead Downstairs production of

LOTUS BEAUTY

WITHERBYS

ARE PROUD TO SUPPORT THE PROGRAMME FOR THE HAMPSTEAD DOWNSTAIRS’ PRODUCTION OF

THE TYLER SISTERS WKG Theatre Advert - Lotus Beauty.pdf

Established in 1740, our business is steeped in history and boasts centuries of experience in delivering high quality print to some of the UKs most prestigious brands.

Whatever your print requirement, one thing is guaranteed we will approach your project with our expert one-to-one personalised project management, we will then marry your output requirement with the latest print technology to deliver exceptional results.

1

05/05/2022

09:40

WKG Print Unit 15 Thames Gateway Park, Chequers Lane, WKG Print are proud to support the programme for the Dagenham, Downstairs production of Hampstead RM9 6FB

LOTUS BEAUTY 07734 048 470 garyf@wkgprint.co.uk wkgprint.co.uk

With print production in four sites across the UK in addition to access to a global network of print partners, you can rest assured we can print and deliver your pieces whenever and wherever you need.

WKG Print proud to be a part of