Theaters have been taken without warning in 2000 when Indu Rubasingham introduced Shabana Azmi to the Nationwide Theater stage for Tanika Gupta’s play The Ready Room.
“At the moment, individuals at Nationwide did not know who Shabana Azmi was,” Rubasingham recollects. “They have been naive about it.” Asian audiences then lined up across the block wanting to see considered one of India’s most revered actors, leaving an enduring impression on the director and the theater itself.
“That is what I like about this theater,” Rubasingham says. “We will put individuals on this stage, and it is significant to totally different communities. It is like a lighthouse, and relying on what you placed on the stage, it opens the door to totally different audiences.”
1 / 4 of a century later, Rubasingham, who was awarded the consideration of Member of the British Empire for her companies to the world of theater, is now director and co-chief govt of the Nationwide, the primary lady and first individual of colour to carry the function, and India is firmly on her sights. Earlier than taking the highest job in spring 2025, she spent greater than a decade as creative director of the Kiln Theater in north London, the place she championed unsung voices and oversaw a serious capital redevelopment that remodeled the venue from the Tricycle Theatre. In an interview with Selection this week, forward of the announcement of this winter’s Olivier stage manufacturing of “The Jungle Ebook,” Rubasingham spoke extensively about his ambitions to deepen the college’s creative, academic and digital connections with the subcontinent.
“It is a no-brainer for me,” she says. “This nation has a big diaspora throughout the Indian subcontinent. So if you happen to’re speaking regionally, you are additionally speaking internationally. And this nation is our largest democracy. It is actually essential to have dialogue with totally different components of the world.”
Her personal roots make the dialog private. Born in Sheffield to Tamil mother and father who got here to Britain within the Sixties and 70s, Rubasingham has maintained a thread linking his work to the subcontinent all through his profession. This circulate runs immediately via The Jungle Ebook. Her long-time collaborator and shut pal, playwright Anupama Chandrasekhar, introduced the mission to her. And one forged member is a part of that shared historical past herself.
Ayesha Dharker, who stars on this manufacturing, made her London stage debut in 2001 as Sita within the Indian epic Ramayana alongside Rubasingham. The connection got here via Azmi herself. “Shabana Azmi launched me to Asha,” says Rubasingham. “She did her first theater efficiency with me in London.” The 2 have labored collectively many occasions since then.
As for the prospect of bringing a variety of Bollywood expertise to the Northern Territory, Mr Rubasingham is unequivocal. “I am keen about working with actors in Bollywood who need to do theater. We’re undoubtedly exploring that and would love to do this.”
Kipling’s adaptation, which relocates the story to the mangrove forests of the Sundarbans, represents a brand new artistic frontier for Rubasingham in a completely totally different approach. She had by no means used a doll earlier than. Nick Barnes from Lume and Finn Caldwell, who additionally serves as motion director, are dealing with this facet of manufacturing. “I discover it actually thrilling,” she says. “As a result of working with dolls brings out the kid in me, the childlike marvel. It forces me to enter my creativeness. I need to consider that these sticks and this cardboard reside animals. And I am very cynical and jaded, so it is very thrilling to be drawn into this world. I feel if you happen to do it proper, it may be very thrilling.”
This work has private resonance. “The Jungle Ebook was the primary film I keep in mind going to the theater to see,” she says. “I keep in mind being stunned when Shere Khan appeared on display screen and hid beneath the chair.” Hiran Abeysekera, who gained the 2022 Olivier Award for Finest Actor for Lifetime of Pi, performs Mowgli, and Chandrasekhar’s script is predicated on a artistic crew that features composer Fernando Velasquez (“It is not a musical,” Rubasingham shortly clarifies) and designer Raja Shakiry, who additionally labored on Chandrasekhar’s The Father and the Assassins. Lighting by Oliver Fenwick.
Rubasingham says the tutorial partnership with the Nationwide Heart for Performing Arts, Mumbai via the NT Connections program confirmed what she already knew in regards to the depth of expertise within the subcontinent. “India has all the time had an amazing cultural scene and extraordinary expertise. There is a thirst.” What she desires to construct is entry, not only for audiences, however for aspiring practitioners. “I’m concerned in theater due to the alternatives I had via college,” she says. “We need to make this entry obtainable to as many individuals as potential. We’re nurturing our future viewers and driving our pipeline.”
Digital is on the coronary heart of that ambition. She argues that the NT Assortment and NT Reside have transformative potential in India, the place moviegoing tradition is deeply rooted. “It democratizes entry, even when it isn’t the identical as a dwell expertise. It permits this format to exist in class lecture rooms, dwelling rooms and film theaters world wide.” She suspects demand within the subcontinent may exceed even the UK’s strong demand for NT dwell screenings. “My intestine feeling, though this hasn’t been confirmed, is that the urge for food might be going to be even larger there. They love the tradition, they love the artwork, they love the tales. It is an extremely wealthy storytelling tradition, and it is one of the prolific movie-going audiences on the earth. I really feel like that complete mixture is wealthy to develop and interact with.”
“The Jungle Ebook” shall be carried out on the Nationwide Theater Olivier Stage from November 13, 2026 to February 6, 2027.
