about us
Kali Theatre is a creative home for female-identifying and non-binary writers of South Asian descent. For over 30 years, we have championed groundbreaking stories that challenge perceptions and reshape the theatrical landscape.
More than developing scripts, we build entire worlds—through design, sound, and space—where bold new writing can truly thrive. We are a laboratory for experimentation, a development powerhouse, and a community of artists committed to transforming what theatre can be.
Our Team
Aisha Zia, Artistic Director & Joint CEO
Aisha is an award-winning British Pakistani playwright, theatre-maker, and dramaturg known for creating politically charged, socially engaged work. Her plays Our Glass House and No Guts, No Heart, No Glory received an Amnesty International commendation and a Scotsman Fringe First. No Guts, No Heart, No Glory was also staged at the WOW Festival at the Southbank Centre and featured in Live from Television Centre on BBC Four. She has been a Resident Artist at Theatre503, Somerset House Studios and HighTide, and is also a Royal Literary Fund Fellow.
In 2019 Aisha founded 62 Gladstone Street, an art space for South Asian artists in her dads old video shop in Peterborough. She has collaborated widely with major UK institutions, like Counterpoints and Refugee Week Her practice blends writing, dramaturgy, producing, and curatorial work, always rooted in community engagement and amplifying underrepresented voices.
She also has a background in editorial news as a photo editor, with contributions to the Financial Times, New Statesman, Reuters and Bloomberg News, bringing a strong visual sensibility and multidisciplinary perspective to her creative and leadership practice.
Christopher Corner, General Manager
Chris has worked with Kali since 1999. He became Kali’s General Manager in 2006.
A freelance theatre general and production manager, Chris has managed projects for many of the major new writing companies including Foco Novo, Joint Stock, Bristol Express, Paines Plough, Bright Red, Moving Theatre, The Half Moon, Yellow Earth Theatre, and Lifeblood Theatre Co. Also worked with York Early Music Festival, Leicester Haymarket, Sheffield Crucible, Royal Court and the Royal Opera House. Recent projects have included a bilingual Ukrainian/Russian Troilus & Cressida in Kyiv.
Layla Chowdhury, Creative Assistant
Layla is an actor, dramaturg and producer based in London. They were a recipient of the Stage One Bridge The Gap award and bursary, providing her with a producing placement at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, after working as Assistant Producer at the Orange Tree Theatre.
She is the founder of The Mango Ensemble, a new writing company centred on improving access and opportunity for Global Majority and Working Class artists. She is interested in deeply political new plays that don't shy away from challenging their audiences as much as they excite them.
Layla is a board member for Boundless Theatre, a company that places young people at the centre of its work, a rare and vital approach in the industry. She is particularly interested in their commitment to youth lead projects and in creating high-quality theatre that breaks down the barriers currently pervasive across the sector.
Our board
Our patrons
Alison McFadyen (Chair)
Rukhsana Ahmad
Penny Gold
Maliha Haider
Kamila Shamsie
Shelley King
Kavita Kukar
Shivani Mathur
Nigham Shahid
Jocelyn Watson