Maanuv Thiara Archives - North West End UK

31Oct

By Savitha VenugopalNo Comments

London

Guards at the Taj – Orange Tree Theatre

For centuries, Taj Mahal has held the fascination of the world as a monument of love, an architectural masterpiece that not only is breathtakingly beautiful, but also spoke of the power held by Shahjahan, the Mughal emperor who commissioned it. But great beauty comes at great price. Legend goes that after Taj Mahal was built, Shahjahan ordered that all the artisans who worked on it have their hands chopped off so that they never replicate it ever again (there is no historical evidence to this having happened). Guards at the Taj, written by Rajiv Joseph and directed by Adam Karim, explores the human and emotional cost of creating something magnificent. Two soldiers, Babur and Humayun – namesakes of Shahjahan’s ancestors, as it happens – guard the Taj as it nears completion. Babur is p...

Boys on the Verge of Tears – Soho Theatre

As a society, the debate around toxic masculinity continues to rage and curdle. The emergence of male social media influencers with unhinged and criminal intentions towards women runs in tandem with alarmingly low conviction rates for men who sexually assault women. Just 2 in 100 rapes recorded by police between Oct' 2022 and Sep' 2023 resulted in someone being charged that same year. Let alone convicted. Into this worrying manosphere drops Boys on the Verge of Tears by Sam Grabiner. It offers no solutions, but by opening a a window onto the brutal evolution of boys to men, it certainly shows why we keep ending up here. Boys on the Verge of Tears was selected from 1,500 entries to the Verity Bargate Award, which is sponsored by Character 7, producers of The Night Manager and Culprits. I...

The Invisible Hand – Kiln Theatre

"Money is the opiate of the people." This is the over-arching theme of Pulitzer Prize-winner Ayad Akhtar's clever and thrilling play, The Invisible Hand. The hand in question is the international money market with the immense power of global finance and the machinations of futures trading. Caught up between this world and that of poverty, civil war and drone strikes is American banker, Nick Bright. He's being held for ransom in Pakistan, a ransom that his US bosses refuse to countenance paying under their policy of not negotiating with terrorists. Instead, Bright realises that he has a valuable asset for his kidnappers, his knowledge of the financial markets. The fate of journalist Daniel Pearl, who was beheaded by terrorists in Pakistan in 2002, is much in his mind. Frantic to...