The Royal Shakespeare Company will bring their acclaimed play The Empress by Lyric Hammersmith Theatre Artistic Associate Tanika Gupta to the Lyric Hammersmith for four weeks only from 4 October.

Transferring directly from the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon and directed by Pooja Ghai, Artistic Director of Tamasha, this new production of The Empress takes you from the rugged gangways of Tilbury docks to the grandeur of Queen Victoria’s Palace, whilst unveiling the long and embedded culture of British Asian history.

The Empress has set design by Rosa Maggiora, with lighting by Matt Haskins, music and sound by Ben and Max Ringham, movement by Wayne Parsons, and casting by Matthew Dewsbury CDG and Martin Poile.

Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, Rachel O’Riordan, said: “We’re so excited to be welcoming the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of The Empress by our very own Artistic Associate, Tanika Gupta and directed by Pooja Ghai. This is an exciting time for West London, we are so pleased to host the RSC here in Hammersmith for this sweeping story through British Indian history.

“The Empress is another impressive play in Tanika Gupta’s ever growing canon of work. Tanika’s acclaimed adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House opened my first season here at the Lyric in 2019. We are honoured to be the London home of this epic production that unveils the long and embedded culture of British Asian history in nineteenth century Britain and we cannot wait for audiences to see this story come to life in our beautiful Victorian Frank Matcham Theatre.”

Spanning 13 years over the ‘Golden Era’ of Empire, this story blends the experiences of Indian ayahs (nursemaids) and lascars (sailors) who worked on the ships carrying trade goods, alongside the first Indian politician to be elected as a Member of Parliament.

It is 1887, the year Queen Victoria celebrates her Golden Jubilee.

Sixteen year old Rani Das, ayah (nursemaid) to an English family arrives at Tilbury docks after a long voyage from India, to start a new life in Britain. On the boat, Rani befriends a lascar (sailor), Dadabhai Naoroji, an Indian politician, and Abdul Karim, a royal servant destined to serve the Queen. Full of hopes and dreams of what lies ahead, they each embark on an extraordinary journey. 

Will their expectations come true or will they have to forge a different path in their new country?

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