King Troll (The Fawn)

By Sonali Bhattacharyya

Two migrant sisters, Riya and Nikita, navigate the increasingly authoritarian island where they live in wildly different ways – both insecure, stateless and desperate for somewhere to call ‘home’.

Riya is offered the chance to create an advocate in the form of a homunculus, or a fawn and sees a chance to elevate herself above the cruelty meted out to others.

Nikita tries to keep her saviour complex in check as she negotiates the challenges and hypocrisy of the third sector where she supports migrant teenagers. A deep connection with one client forces her to confront the limitations of her work.

King Troll is about the troll that lives within all of us – whispering ‘me, not us’, and definitely ‘me first’

The play was a finalist for the 2023 Women’s Prize for Playwriting.

Cast

Diyar Bozkurt as Tahir
Ayesha Dharker as Shashi and Mrs B
Zainab Hasan as Nikita
Dominic Holmes as The Fawn
Safiyya Ingar as Riya

Production Team

Production Manager – Chris Burr
Stage Manager – Stacey Nurse
Assistant Stage Manager – Masha Kononovs
Assistant Director – Neetu Singh
Wardrobe Supervisor – Katie Whyte
Artist Wellbeing Practitioner – Eshmit Kaur

Creative Team

Director – Milli Bhati
Movement Director – Iskandar Sharazuddin
Designer – Rajha Shakiry
Design Associate – Yimei Zhao
Lighting Designer – Elliot Griggs
Composer & Sound Designer – XANA
Fight Director – Bret Yount
Voice Coach – Gurkiran Kaur
Casting Director – Arthur Carrington
Assistant Director – Neetu Singh

Photo by Helen Murray — Zainab Hasan as Nikita, Safiyya Ingar as Riya and Ayesha Dharker as Mrs B

Photo by Helen Murray — Safiyya Ingar as Riya

Photo by Helen Murray — Zainab Hasan as Nikita

Photo by Helen Murray — Dominic Holmes as the Fawn and Zainab Hasan as Nikita

Photo by Helen Murray — Zainab Hasan as Nikita and Safiyya Ingar as Riya

Photo by Helen Murray — Dominic Holmes as the Fawn

Photo by Helen Murray — Dominic Holmes as the Fawn and Safiyya Ingar as Riya

★★★★★ “Milli Bhatia’s production of Sonali Bhattacharyya’s bleak allegorical dystopia is an awesome and unsettling experience”

—Time Out
★★★★★ “As an art form theatre is rarely truly frightening. Often a show will be disquieting, or sinister, but as King Troll began, I was confronted with the unusual sensation of fear… It is thought provoking and moving and is horror at its best.”

—The Spy in the Stalls
★★★★★ “As terrifying as it is heartbreaking, Sonali Bhattacharyya’s script masterfully explores the complexities of migrant experiences wrapped up in a thrilling horror allegory… an expertly executed political thriller.”

—Theatre and Tonic
★★★★ “Grim, modern-day reality and folklore chillingly collide in Sonali Bhattacharyya’s new play… Milli Bhatia’s production brims with an anger fuelled by dark playfulness.”

– The Stage
★★★★ “Nerves jangle from the first moment, and never get a chance to calm during this cracking show that nudges activist drama into atavistic horror.”

–The Guardian

King troll (the fawn)

★★★★★ “Milli Bhatia’s production of Sonali Bhattacharyya’s bleak allegorical dystopia is an awesome and unsettling experience”

★★★★★ “As an art form theatre is rarely truly frightening. Often a show will be disquieting, or sinister, but as King Troll began, I was confronted with the unusual sensation of fear… It is thought provoking and moving and is horror at its best.”

★★★★★ “As terrifying as it is heartbreaking, Sonali Bhattacharyya’s script masterfully explores the complexities of migrant experiences wrapped up in a thrilling horror allegory… an expertly executed political thriller.”

★★★★ “Grim, modern-day reality and folklore chillingly collide in Sonali Bhattacharyya’s new play… Milli Bhatia’s production brims with an anger fuelled by dark playfulness.”

★★★★ “Nerves jangle from the first moment, and never get a chance to calm during this cracking show that nudges activist drama into atavistic horror.”

Period Parrrty

Seedlings