Strictly Balti

This enchanting and compelling autobiographical story is written and performed by Bristol theatre maker Saikat Ahamed.

Ballroom dancing is not the only humiliation heaped on Saikat by his ambitious parents. There’s catechism and Latin too. And no-one gets his name right, ever.

Join Saikat as he dances precariously through his dual-identity childhood, torn between the familiar sights of Birmingham and the mysteries of Bangladesh. Meet werewolves in the playground, nuns in the corridors and tangerines in the dancehall… The play takes a humorous look at what it means to be British from someone who had to learn the hard way.

This is a show for anyone who ever had to grow up, a show about being a second generation immigrant in the UK but feeling like an Englishman abroad.

The story is set in the leafy suburbs of 1980’s Birmingham, but behind the doors of Saikat’s mock Tudor semi-detached home is a whole world of vibrant colours, exotic scents and eastern politics. STRICTLY BALTI tells the tale of one boy’s mission to find his place in the world between two conflicting cultures.