Narratives of Time is a theatre anthology celebrating six decades of British Bangladeshi drama, storytelling and community arts. Developed by Dr Canan Salih with emerging writers Syed Tasmia Tahia, Asma Anjum, Heeva Raza and Shohidur Rahman, this production draws on interviews with artists, organisers, performers and community figures who shaped generations of cultural life in East London.
The show moves through time from the 1960s to 2013, exploring how communities used theatre to survive, resist, gather and imagine new futures. Six short pieces trace these narratives: The Phone Box (1960s) captures a moment of freedom for a newly arrived Bengali woman; We Survive by Making Art (1970s) follows four young Bangladeshis debating what story to tell; Dancing Through Shame (1980s) follows a girl discovering her calling through dance despite family expectations; The Banglo Saxons (1990s) playfully explores how accent and language shape identity; The Ambush (2000s) catches two young people in an encounter with watchful aunties; and The Archive Calls Back (2010–2013) records stories from those who came before. The piece weaves memory, humour, politics, migration, language and intergenerational exchange into a portrait of how the past continues to speak through the present. In English and Bangla.
