PAST EVENT
18th November 2021

The Walls Between Us

8pm
Loading Events

When the pandemic hits, the Jamils are all affected in their own way.

Rahil, a key worker, decides to self-isolate in his room to protect his elderly mother, Fazeela. Fazeela is struggling with the speed at which lockdown has been enforced and being cut off from her family and friends. Rahil’s daughter, Malaika, is stuck at home, unable to go back to university. Will the Jamils pull together to help each other out through these difficult times? Or will they allow for the pandemic to push them apart?

Produced by Sampad and written by Farrah Chaudhry, The Walls Between Us brings to the stage researched, personal experiences of Covid-19, looking at issues of grief, mental health and how different generations find ways to connect.

The Walls Between Us is part of BEDLAM Arts & Mental Health Festival 2021.
Suitable for ages 14+. Performances are on Wednesday 17th & Thursday 18th November at The Rep, both shows will have a post-show discussion.

Both shows will have socially distanced seating and both shows will be captioned.
As well as the above, Wednesday 17 Nov, 8.00pm is also relaxed performance and Thursday 18 Nov, 8.00pm is also a BSL Interpreted Performance.

…performance was mindblowing, thought provoking and emotionally riveting. Beautifully written and wonderfully performed

Audience comment from No Bond So Strong, Sampad’s BEDLAM 2019

Promila Bittu-Safaya
Cast, Promila Bittu-Safaya
Promila, an Anaesthetic specialist in retirement took up Acting/Dancing/ Screenwriting & Poetry.A multilingual artist, she writes in three principal languages English, Hindi & Urdu.

Her latest completed project (June 2021) was for BBC films shot in Bradford, a short titled F.O.G (Fear Obligation Guilt) currently in its post production. Promila also performed in the well received No Bond So Strong, Sampad’s 2019 Bedlam play.

Other credits include: Role play of a MND patient with Medic Mentor based at Ashby di-la-zouch, a speaking commercial for Beur Medical, raising awareness of Breast Screening in women, a Short titled Advance Care Directives for Blue Bell Films, Nadeem’s Story with End board Productions (May 2014), online projects for Blue Hearts Charity with recital of her poetry titled In their Shoes written to honour the NHS frontlines, and Sampad’s Lockdown short plays titled Broadcasts Of Interruption for which she performed her own 8 min Monologue.

Ravneet Sehra
Cast, Ravneet Sehra
Ravneet is a British South Asian Actor. She trained at Birmingham Ormiston Academy which was co-founded by Maverick Television and The Brit School. She has acted in key classics by Shakespeare, such as Punjabi Jaques in As You Like it and Queen of the Fairys Titania, in a site specific adaption called Merely Players. Her roles in contemporary theatre include playing Baby in Meera Sayal’s world premiere of Anita and Me (Birmingham Rep), Betty in Down to Earth and Girl on a UK tour of award winning play The Vultures Song, to name a few. She was nominated for Best Actress in the Midlands Movie Awards for short film ‘Scars’ and featured as Bal in a Bafta Nominated Short, I Choose (BBC).

Vimal Korpal
Cast, Vimal Korpal
Vimal is a Midlands based actor. And has come to us from his recent work – The Waves – Queens – Tamasha Theatre, ME! At Warwick Arts Theatre, the production Inspector Daar (Talking Birds), the podcast Tattoo Stories (BCT) and two short films of Bank Robbers and The Kingswood Beast by the Cube.

Credits include:The Running Male – Deda, Descent – MAT, PINOC10 – Camden Theatre, Back in 10 Maharaja of Saris and Suits, Life’s a Beach (Black Country Touring). Hanuman Tales, Where Yow Frum (Birmingham Rep), The Radio Play Mayfield Tales. Revolving Doors (Hearth Centre), The Boy only we see (Birmingham Rep), Adrift (Curiosity Productions), Capital (R&D Stans Café), EAT! (BCT & Birmingham Rep), Cornershop (BCT), Dub Qualander(Symphony Hall), Cricketers (Talking Birds), Voices of Experience (Sampad Arts), Busking For Advice (Zoe Haworth), Cracked (Sante Theatre). Education work includes: Birmingham Hippodrome and Women & Theatre.

Suzanne Gorman
Director, Suzanne Gorman
Suzanne Gorman is director, dramaturg and faciliator/coach. She is Artistic Director of Maya Productions, a company making diverse theatre to create change where she has directed; Machinal, The Croydon Avengers, In Time, Barefoot Gen, Superheroes: South of the River and Babel Junction and is currently writing Benny and the Greycats a new musical that tells the story of a family of Anglo-Indian musicians who migrate to Sheffield in the 1960s.

Other directing includes:- Tales of the Harrow Road, Moonwalking in Chinatown, Bagpuss, 3 days in July, The Weave and Behna (Soho Theatre) The Honey Man (Derby LIVE/New Perspectives) Only Connect (Shared Experience) Star Fish (Theatremongers) The Spirit of Verona(Immediate Theatre) Love at First Degree-Bliss (Leicester Haymarket) and Theatre Ambush, The Hairy Ape, Limbo, (Sheffield Theatres)

A Clore Fellow, Suzanne led a research project Where Am I? that highlighted the importance of Black, Asian and Ethnically Diverse Role Models and Leaders in the performing arts. She works to support workforce diversity across the sector through research projects, coaching/mentoring, training and facilitation with organisations including National Theatre, Arts Council England, Home Slough, and Tonic Theatre.

Image by Portrayed Photography

Farrah Chaudhry
Writer, Farrah Chaudhry
Farrah started writing in her teens and since then storytelling has been her passion. Reviewed by the Birmingham Post as a ‘writer to watch’, she has enjoyed several notable achievements and recognition for her work. A graduate of the Royal Court and Birmingham REP Foundry, Farrah has also turned her skills to TV, having worked in the story offices of leading soap Coronation Street and Tanglin, a daily drama in Singapore. Farrah is an Associate Artist at 1623 theatre company, where she was commissioned to write one half of the double-bill Lear/Cordelia. Farrah’s debut short film, Look At Us, was an official selection for the UK Asian Film Festival 2021, where it was premiered, and has subsequently been selected for festivals globally, including Aesthetica in York and ZEBRA in Berlin.


Composer, Archita Kumar
Archita has composed original music for dance and theatre, including commissions by Spin Arts, Sonia Sabri, Sampad Arts, Ellandar Productions, Emergency Exit Arts, Akademi and Phizzical Productions.  Archita has performed with Bollywood composer Pritam Chakraborty and toured with Kasabian as a backing vocalist.  Her vocals have also been featured on BBC’s Indian Railway series, and her commercial music releases have received BBC radio airplay.

Archita is committed to supporting dancers at various stages of their career through mentoring, rehearsal direction and professional coaching.  As a kathak teacher, Archita is presently a tutor for the national youth dance programme CAT (Centre for Advanced Dance Training) and Morley College London.


Set Designer, Charlotte Gregory
Charlotte graduated from Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts in 2020 with a First Class Honours degree in Theatre Design and Technology. She has designed the set for a commercial photoshoot for the upcoming Paul Bert vintage clothing brand and was part of the scenic artist team that helped to create the set for Treetop Adventure Golf in Birmingham. This is her first commission for a professional theatre production.

 

About  BEDLAM Arts & Mental Health Festival 2021
1 in 4 people in the UK experience a mental health problem each year. In England, 1 in 6 people experience a common mental health problem (such as anxiety or depression) each week. So whether you’ve experienced this, or know someone who has, you’re not alone. It’s vital to share your stories – and taking part in the arts is a natural way to do so.


Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust
, together with Birmingham Repertory TheatreMidlands Arts CentreSampad South Asian Arts and our guest partner Red Earth Collective, are thrilled to bring you a diverse ​programme of world premieres, visual art and film as well as powerful live performance through theatre, spoken word, dance and music.