Kanpur 1857

The Edinburgh Fringe First winning sell-out smash-hit, Kanpur: 1857 arrives in Norwich.

The play explores the 1857 uprising in Kanpur, India, which was part of a series of intensified spates of violence from Indian Rebels towards the British Colonial forces. Strapped to a cannon, an Indian rebel finds themselves answering to a British officer for the crimes of Kanpur.

But who is the hero and who is the villain? Whatever happens, it’s going to be explosive.

Based on historical events, this new play comically satirises contemporary conflicts around gender, colonial violence, and making art in times of crisis.

Written by and starring ‘storytelling genius’ (★★★★★ Scotsman) Niall Moorjani, and co-directed by and starring Jonathan Oldfield, director of 2024’s Best Newcomer Award-winning show.

In an interview with The Skinny, Moorjani says:

“I would say it is explosive, darkly comic, and thought-provoking. But at its core, it is about a person telling their story – it’s not purely documenting a process of oppressed people throwing off oppressors. It’s so much more multifaceted than that.

At this particular moment in history, the immense nuance that comes with the human condition. The British officer in the play is not a straightforwardly evil, cartoonish villain. He’s representative of a far more accurate version of the past….they’re in our everyday lives. They’re in our politics. For me, trying to highlight that and trying to give that sense of nuance, as well as giving accuracy and rigour to this moment in history, felt really important.”

Winner of the Asian Arts Award of Outstanding Production.
As featured in the New Yorker.
Winner of the Pleasance’s Charlie Hartill Fund.