The Troth | ‘A swan song’, Mira Kaushik talks to Arts Industry
Akademi’s artistic director, Mira Kaushik, speaks to Arts Industry about the history of Akademi and the The Troth – Usne Kaha Tha.
“Akademi is concerned with the development of the art and the use of the art form – so we take an overview of the performing art tradition and take it into the society to make it relevant … This is a very important piece for me, a story generations of Indians have grown up with, maybe the greatest love story in Indian history, but it was not being picked up at this important time. We’re removing boundaries, using contemporary dance to tell a traditional Indian story in what is, first and last, a British work of art.”
Mira Kaushik, Akademi’s artistic director
Read: An Indian love story as part of British culture in Arts Industry
The Troth – Usne Kaha Tha
Akademi’s The Troth – Usne Kaha Tha is a gripping wartime story of love and loss, told through powerful dance theatre. Inspired by a 1915 short story Usne Kaha Tha by Chandradhar Sharma Guleri, it tells the story of Sardar Lehna Singh’s sacrifice of keeping his secret promise to an unrequited love while mid-conflict in the horror of the trenches of Belgium. Directed by Gary Clarke, the show features a specially-commissioned music score by Shri Sriram, and a cast including Vidya Patel (BBC Young Dancer 2015 finalist).
2018 UK and International tour dates
The Troth is funded by Arts Council England; Ministry of Culture, Government of India; Armed Forces Covenant Fund; Cockayne Grants for the Arts through the London Community Foundation; PRS for Music Foundation; ICCR; and Air India. Partners include UK-India Year of Culture; British Council; The Space; Imperial War Museum; National Army Museum; The Nehru Centre, London; Watermans Arts Centre; and Teamwork Arts.