My Name Is . . .

Description

When Gaby disappears from her Scottish home, it is assumed that her Pakistani father, Farhan, has kidnapped her. The spiralling headlines are only momentarily silenced when it emerges that Gaby may have fled of her own accord, choosing to spend her life in Pakistan. To the distress of her Scottish mother, Suzy, Gaby declares, "My name is Ghazala", turning her back on "Gaby" and, seemingly, the West. This moving verbatim play reveals a cross-cultural love story that began in late-seventies Glasgow, a world away from the frantic "tug of love" well documented in the world's press. A captivating new play about love, family and ever-shifting identities, My Name Is . . . tells the story behind an event that fleetingly hit headlines in 2006 and continues to resonate throughout the UK and beyond. It was first produced by Tamasha at the Arcola Theatre, London, on 30 April 2014, before the production transferred to the Tron Theatre, Glasgow, on 29 May 2014.

Sudha Bhuchar is joint-founder of Tamasha Theatre Company and is both an actor and a playwright. She writes regularly with Shaheen Khan for BBC Radio 4, and their many credits include three series of Girlies. Their screenplay The House Across the Street was shown on BBC 4. Her previous writing credits for Tamasha include Strictly Dandia, the award-winning Fourteen Songs, Two Weddings and A Funeral and the hugely successful Balti Kings.

Bhuchar's even-handed, unhysterical approach pays dividends, not least by threading together English and Urdu to reflect a dual heritage . . . The play captures the light-headed joy of the original courtship, as well as the damaged Suzy's increasing confusion. * Guardian * . . . the extraordinary story that unravels before us shows that while religion may be a dividing line in some communities, here the press was far more destructive. * Time Out London *