The Generations of the Diaspora and Multiculturalism in Britain

Jatinder Verma founded Tara Arts in 1977 as a British-Asian company, the first of its kind in Britain. Its use of 'Binglish', a term coined by Verma to define the English of speakers belonging to the diaspora of the Indian subcontinent, is an integral part of Tara's identity, as he discussed in his commentary in NTQ52 (1997). This new interview, conducted in July 2008 and February 2009, focuses on issues to do with multiculturalism, engaging Verma in an in-depth discussion of this problematic and increasingly contested area and leading him to outline the artistic pursuits of his company. Special attention is given to the working processes of the Journey to the West trilogy (2002) and to the aesthetic principles driving it, which extend to other productions he has directed for Tara Arts, not least to his more recent transpositions of Ibsen and Shakespeare. A complete chronology of productions can be found on the Tara Arts webpage, www.tara-arts.com. The first part of this interview was published in Maria Shevtsova's Sociology of Theatre and Performance (Verona: QuiEdit, 2009), p. 359-71. She is Professor of Drama and Theatre Arts at Goldsmiths, University of London, and co-editor of New Theatre Quarterly.