ARRIVING: A scene from Ryman and Sheikh; Tamasha's Bhuchar and Landon-Smith (below)

"Asians are going beyond conv entional roles, refusing to be stereotyped." Nina Wa dia, theatre and television actor

For 25 years, Tejinder Sharma visited Britain as a crew member of Air India. Then four years ago, he settled there. Now, even as he drives a train for Silver Link, he takes out time to pursue his passion: directing plays. In fact, at a recent showing of Honeymoon at Beck Theatre in Hays, 400 people rose in standing ovation for Sharma, even though his production was in the Hindi language.

Not surprising really, after the mainstream acceptance of Bombay Dreams with its oh-so-Indian theme. With Andrew Lloyd Webber's production set to run through till March next year, it appears that British Asian theatre has finally arrived. More Asians are coming into theatres and more non-Asians into Asian shows. And it's really showing.

Consider this: Honeymoon showed at the Watermans Art Centre; Tara Arts, the first British Asian theatre company having started in 1977, today works on over 150 performances annually; Sanctuary by Tanika Gupta performed at London's National Theatre Loft; Ryman and Sheikh, a spoof on Pakistani cable channels, is on at the Edinburgh International Festival and the Funjabis have made a name for themselves in the comedy circuit. Eagerly awaited is a forthcoming play based on Salman Rushdie's book Midnight's Children.

PIONEER: Verma of Tara Arts

Now Playing « Tejinder Sharma's Honeymoon performed at the prestigious Watermans Art Centre. « Sanctuary by Tanika Gupta played at London's National Theatre Loft. « Ryman and Sheikh by Tamasha is currently playing at the Edinburgh International Festival.

Actors too are gaining recognition: Sanjeev Bhaskar has received rave reviews for his performance in Art and Nina Wadia is a household name in Britain.
Clearly, Asian theatre is making a mark. Says Time Out's theatre editor Jane Edwards: "In the early days, British Asian theatre didn't really manage to draw either the Asian or the British audience." But in the past five years, Asian theatre has matured.

Says Wadia, who rose to fame with Goodness Gracious Me. "Parents would drag their children away. But now, they bring them to us because they want them to get into acting."

Though Asian theatre began with Jatinder Verma's Tara Arts, interest remained sporadic. In fact, it was the success of East is East in 1996 that set the ball rolling. The production by Tamasha Theatre Company, set up 14 years ago by Kristine Landon-Smith and Sudha Bhuchar, was put up by Royal Court. Says Edwards, "This play drew attention towards British Asian productions." Tamasha's A Tainted Dawn opened the Edinburgh International Festival in 1997 and the first run of Fourteen Songs, Two Weddings and a Funeral won the Barclays New Musical Award in 1998.

Now, the stage is set for more variety. Says Wadia: "The opportunities have grown. Asians are going beyond conventional roles and are refusing to get stereotyped." Things have certainly changed. "The satellite television boom has inspired the younger generation to take interest in Indian languages," says Sharma. "We at Katha UK promote Hindi, and theatre makes an effective medium."

While the success of Bombay Dreams has had a positive impact on Asian theatre, most producers say the funds available to it did the trick. Says Landon-Smith: "They spent over £4.5 million and have 2,000 seats a night. If you do something that scale, you are bound to do well. For us, if we get 500 people a night and run long enough, we might recover."

Revenue is lagging in British Asian theatre. Landon-Smith, for example, does not believe she will be able to recover the £10,000 production cost for Ryman and Sheikh. Besides which, she adds, the capacity of theatres where Asian plays run is too small to make money. "A lot of us do touring nationally which helps," she says. "But for a company like us it is hard to do anything that is commercial. Fourteen Songs made little money."

Raising funds has always been an issue. But the enthusiasm and metamorphosis in Asian theatre is now drawing the Arts Council's attention. In its forthcoming budget, it has earmarked £25 million for theatre with extra investment for Asian theatre. Says Michaela Waldram, the council's drama officer, "We are committed to Asian theatre. Theatre is expensive and if you don't subsidise it, it doesn't happen."

But even as the authorities give a fillip to Asian theatre, producers realise the need to rediscover themselves. Says Wadia: "The Bollywood invasion in British Asian theatre is not a healthy sign. We should do more Chekov, or maybe Shakespeare with an Indian angle." Landon-smith agrees. "To keep abreast of changes, you have to make sure you are surprising the public and are unpredictable."

Tanika Gupta of Waiting Room fame feels Asian theatre has been toying with the same stories for too long. "Now we want to hear stories that are not necessarily the British Asian experience," she says.

Television too has lured young Asian writers away from theatre with better pay. But though the number of brown actors have gone up, directors still find it difficult to get the right cast. For Waiting Room, Gupta had to get Shabana Azmi. Actors from India, in turn, hike the budget.

Talent is not lacking. But the recent resurgence of interest seems to have shaken Asian theatre out of the limbo into which it had fallen. The next target could well be an Asian production that can give Bombay Dreams a run for its money.