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LONDON ARTS BOARD CELEBRATES DIVERSE ACTS

The London Arts Board today celebrated the latest awards to made under its Diverse Acts programme. Diverse Acts, which has already yielded one West End hit in London, marks the first successes of the Board's new programme aimed at developing black theatre in the capital.

The award winners are: Indosa for a production of A River Sutra by

Tanika Gupta (£20,000) which will be performed at Three Mills Island

Studios; Moti Roti for Auntiji which will be performed at the Theatre

Royal, Stratford East (£18,000) and the London International Festival of

Theatre (LIFF) for Things Fall Apart by Biyi Bandele which will be

performed at LIFT 97 (£17,000).

The Diverse Acts Awards were initiated by the London Arts Board in response to a review of black theatre in the capital undertaken in 1995. By responding to the new work emerging from communities and individuals originating in the Caribbean, Indian Sub-Continent, Africa, the Pacific Rim and Latin America, the Awards are intended to enable companies to develop new work where there is a commitment to produce the work by an established company and/or theatre in London.

Commenting on the Diverse Acts Awards, the Board's Principal Drama Officer, Sue Timothy said: "I am delighted that, through Diverse Acts, the Board has been able to respond positively to the views expressed by a wide range of writers, directors, actors and other theatre practitioners. These three scripts reflect the very high quality of culturally diverse work being produced in the capital."

An earlier Award to the Tamasha Theatre Company resulted in the enormously successful production of East is East by Ayub Khan Din. The play received considerable critical acclaim and the second West End run at the Royal Court Theatre was extended.

It is clear that there is a demand for non-western theatre in the capital, said Ms Timothy. "The demand for such work is increasing as the success of Ayub Khan Din's East is East demonstrates."

Tanika Gupta: After graduating from Oxford University, Tanika Gupta has been a community worker and worked in an Asian women's refuge. In 1991 she co-edited A Tryst With Destiny, a commemorative volume of essays on Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. She has written a screen play for the BBC's Black Screen, two short films and several episodes of the TV adaptation of A Suitable Boy. Her work for radio has been nominated for a number of awards including the Prix Futura and the Sony Radio Awards. She collaborated with Inoosa's Indhu Rubasingham and Rosa Maggiora on a workshop production of Voices in the Wind at the Royal National Theatre Studio.

Biyi Bandele Thomas was born and educated in Nigeria where he studied

drama at Obafewi A Awolowo University. Awarded the Commonwealth Prize in the Black Young Writers Competition, his plays include: Two Horsemen; Marching for Fausa; Death Catches the Hunter and Resurrections. His film and television work includes Not Even the Gods are Wise Enough and Bad Boys.

Dolly Dhingra, who was co-commissioned by Moti Roti and the Theatre

Royal, Stratford East to write Auntiji, began writing for The Independent in

1993. Dolly won the Commission for Racial Equality's Race in the Media

Award in 1995. She is a contributor to The Guardian, Asian Age and Time

Out. In addition to her journalistic career, she is a member of the comedy

trio, Unsuitable Girls. Dolly is currently completing a film script.

Ayub Khan Din has appeared frequently on the stage, on television and in film. He was most recently seen at the Royal National Theatre in Jatinda Verma' 5 production of Tartuffe. His recent television credits include London Bridge and Dange~eld. Ayub appeared in both Stephen Frear's films, My Beautift£l Laundrette and Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. He is currently writing a new stage play, Dancing at Dum-Dum.

Indosa is a collaborative venture between Indhu Rubasingham and Rosa Maggiora. Over the past three years they have worked on four productions for the Royal National Theatre Studio, the Theatre Royal, Stratford East and the Gate Theatre. Rosa designed the recent Royal Shakespeare Company production of Eveiyman at the Other Place. Indhu has been the Associate Director at the Gate Theatre where she won the Karabe Award.

The London International Festival (LIFT) was founded by Rose Fenton and Lucy Neal. The bi-ennial three week Festival offers a London wide programme of classical and contemporary theatre, including outdoor events, community projects, international co-productions, dance, workshops and an extensive education programme. LIFT receives revenue funding from the London Arts Board (£280,062 for 1997/98).

Set up by Keith Khan and Ah Zaidi, Moti Roti aims to produce contemporary work, informed by a cultural perspective and questioning perceptions of difference. Their work is multi- disciplinary in nature bringing together visual artists, writers, actors, dancers, musicians and film makers. The award winning company has produced work that has been seen around Britain and internationally.

Tamasha was formed in 1989 by Sudha Bachar and Kristine Landon-Smith to fill the vacuum they perceived in work reflecting the British Asian experience. Tamasha aims to develop and nurture Asian writing, to provide training to young professionals in all aspects of theatre: acting; writing; production and administration. The company offers an educational outreach programme to broaden their audience profile. Amongst the successful productions mounted by Tamasha are Women of the Dust by Ruth Carter, A Shaft of Sunlight by Abhijat Joshi and A Yearning, an adaptation of Lorca's Yerma also by Ruth Carter.

3 The London Arts Board is the funding and development agency for the arts in the capital. It serves the area covered by the 32 London boroughs and the Corporation of the City of London. The London Arts Board funds some 140 arts organisations each year and supports innovation and development through 33 funding programmes (project funds). For further information contact Graham Wiffen or Purba Choudhury on 0171-240 1313 in the Public Affairs Unit.

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