By Sonali Bhattacharyya

A young Black Country couple return home to confront the fault lines of cultural prejudice that had driven them to find sanctuary a few miles down the road in Birmingham.

Reflecting a real slice of life, this thought-provoking play explores social and cultural divisions in the way we see other people’s loyalties, religion and sense of home. It was inspired and informed by workshops with diverse Black Country community groups, using the 60th anniversary of the partition of India as its starting point.

First Performance 7 November 2007

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By Anu Kumar Lazarus

The Ecstasy depicts the relationship between three people, Amit, a sculptor, Jackie, an older woman who becomes Amit’s model and friend, and Sanjay, his boyfriend. It explores themes of love, friendship and homosexuality.

First performed in 1999

By Rukhsana Ahmad

Kiran, a young British South Asian actress from London goes to India to play the part of Shola, a Mogul Antigone. But the death of her screenwriter aunt pushes her into direct conflict with her Indian cousins and forces her to grapple with communalism when it bursts into her life.

Set against the Bombay riots of December 1992, this re-working of the ancient myth of Antigone makes it relevant to our times, particularly in a South Asian context where communalism is still a source of division and conflict.

River on Fire was shortlisted for the 2002 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

By Sharmila Chauhan

In a city of transition and tradition, three liars, two lovers and a reluctant leader all desperately search for truth. As Mumbai burns, Purnjanam questions destiny, love and power, asking what must be destroyed for something new to be created.

This play developed out of a kali Theatre project exploring the work of Rabindranath Tagore, the celebrated Bengali poet and playwright.

First Performance 17 January 2012

By Sharon Raizada

Ali is a new mum, loving wife and successful hair stylist. Two years after her son’s birth, things aren’t going to plan. She is stuck in a shabby local salon trying to make ends meet. Husband Rob is so intent on making it as an artist, he barely notices. Their luck seems to change when glamorous Shoreditch gallery owners Suzanne and Nirjay launch Rob’s career. But what are they really after?

‘A witty, unflinching look at our lives as we try to negotiate the stresses of 21st century work, sex and kids’ – Broadway World

First Performance 25 October 2017

By Nessah Muthy

When Alyssa returns home from prison she’s devastated to find her aunt has put her beloved grandmother Betty in a care home. Determined to give Betty one last jolly, jingle filled holiday and recapture happy childhood memories, Alyssa kidnaps Betty and the pair embark on a campervan road trip to the seaside.  But soon Betty’s dementia and Alyssa’s troubled past catch up with them.

A compelling play about love, loneliness and guilt between three generations of women.

‘Muthy nails the way sensory experiences can burst through the dementia haze… The temptation of the play is to look away. The strength of this play is that we cannot’.
The Guardian

First performance: October 2018 

By Naylah Ahmed

Regret and loss collide with fear and paranoia in a distorted reality fed by 24 hour global newsfeeds, blogs and chat rooms.

‘Ready Or Not was a response to the distortions and constant media feeding created by the so called war on terror. ‘In the 16 years since 9/11, so much has changed; paranoia has grown, the ‘us’ and ‘them’ rhetoric gathers pace, and 24/7 news coverage in the post-truth era now provides a soundtrack to our lives. The war on terror has left countries and peoples ravished with untold numbers of non-combatants killed – untold because they’re uncounted. Ready or Not explores these themes in a domestic setting where three characters deal with their own personal battles within this wider global context.’
– Naylah Ahmed”

 First performance took place at Birmingham Mac 5 April 2017

By Satinder Chohan

A powerful new drama about sport, nationality and belonging, with a haunting love story at its heart.

From the red dust of Punjab to the Olympic stadiums of Europe this intense new drama explores the Indian sport of Kabaddi and its place on the world stage. Against a backdrop of Indian revolutionary fervour, two players compete for a place in the team for the 1936 Berlin Olympics and for the love of Azadeh, a freedom fighter and outcast with a troubled past. Structured like the two halves of a Kabaddi game, this play compelling depicts the raw physicality of combat in a compelling story of the struggle to win.

First Performance 8 November 2012
Co-production with Pursued by a Bear

By Rukhsana Ahmad                 

Inspired by the true story of Balwant Kaur, a woman murdered by her husband in a refuge, it explores the painful dilemma of a South Asian woman forced to seek help from a women’s refuge.

‘Rukhsana Ahmad’s play about marital violence is an intelligent, absorbing study of an Asian woman trapped in tradition. Too many issue-centred dramas lack the complex ring of truth but this is an absorbing exception’
The Independent

Rukhsana Ahmad and actor/director Rita Wolf set up Kali Theatre Company to produce Song For A Sanctuary in 1991

Song for a Sanctuary was included in Six Plays by Black and Asian Women published by Aurora Metro

First Performance 7 October 1991

By Bettina Gracias

Asha and Ajay lead a predictable married life. Every day Ajay goes to work, comes home, eats his dinner of curry (always with coconut), watches telly and goes to bed. Lonely and frustrated, Asha escapes to the India of her imagination. Suddenly Mahatma Gandhi, and the Hindu Gods Shiva, and Kali arrive for tea and jelabies. When they refuse to leave, farce breaks out with hilarious consequences. Ajay tries to cling to the wife he once had instead of the new woman she has become but Asha has discovered happiness.

This witty, playful and poignant play asks if it is better to be sane or happy?

First Performance 24 November 2010

By Azma Dar

Mushtaq’s student visa is about to run out but he’s desperate to stay in London so he can support his family back home. Working two jobs back to back he saves enough money to pay Laila, who has a flourishing business in arranging marriages of convenience. But Mushtaq’s dreams of a perfect life with a perfect wife are shattered by the reality of greed as Laila’s cunning plans unfold.

A fresh unconventional look at the complexities of immigration and the lengths one man is prepared to go to fulfil his dreams.

First Performance 22 February 2006

By Bettina Gracias

A sparkling comedy with a delicious touch of irony set in the eighties.

Mrs Singh has discovered the liberating effect of dancing. Her son Tej disapproves of this ‘low life’ activity. He is obsessed with becoming a doctor and cutting things up. Her daughter Cassie hates the idea of her parents’ liberation and demands an arranged marriage.  Her husband is weary of her enthusiasm and desperate to find a way out of a local dance competition. He fakes illness but Mrs Singh persuades her son to dance with her instead. After many twists and turns Mr and Mrs Singh win the dance competition and Cassie manages to arrange her own marriage.

By Sharon Raizada

 Naz disturbs Rose dancing on the roof of a Mayfair mansion at 3am. He’s fixing a satellite dish. She’s escaping her rich stepdad’s party. She’s in Paul Smith and an expensive headscarf. He’s in low-slung jeans and a hoodie. She’s an English Rose. He’s Bengali. Rose has a secret. Naz has to pay a family debt. Both need out by morning. Rose makes a desperate proposition to Naz… murder.

Knife-crime, the pressures of youth and love on the edge are explored in this compelling, unconventional romance in the dark heart of London.

First Performance 19 October 2010