User:TajinderSinghHayer/Peshkar productions

Peshkar Productions is an intercultural theatre and multimedia art company based in the Northwest of England. It engages in participatory projects and professional productions.

History
Peshkar was initiated in 1991, through a series of Asian Arts workshops by Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council’s (OMBC) Arts Development programme. The workshops were based on Asian music, dance and drama, involving members of the local Asian community with little experience in the performing arts. The success of the workshops and the enthusiasm of the participants led to the formation of Peshkar as a company with a role to promote the arts within the local Asian community by providing a forum for cultural expression.

Between 1991 and 1998 the company operated as a project within the OMBC Arts and Events Unit, gaining funding from North West Arts Board and other local funding sources to run a series of participatory workshop programmes and theatre productions employing a professional creative team to work with Peshkar’s growing company of participants from the local community.

In 2001 Peshkar secured support from the European Regional Development Fund, which allowed it to constitute the organisation as a Company Limited by Guarantee and a Registered Charity, and develop a business plan that would build on the company’s growing reputation as a regionally significant Asian Arts organisation. It secured Revenue Funding from North West Arts Board and the first full time Company Director was appointed in November 2000. In 2005, Jim Johnson took over as CEO of Peshkar.

Productions

 * Robot 420 (1992)
 * New Horizons (1993) by Basir Kazmi, directed by Ajay Kumar.
 * Chappatti and Chips (1994) by Maggie Willett, directed by Harmage Singh Kalirai.
 * Masala Girls
 * Jaago Get Real by Parv Bancil, directed by Harmage Singh Kalirai, choreographed by Shobna Gulati.
 * The Boat Years
 * The Beautiful Violin (2002) by Adam Strickson.
 * The Beautifully Loose Asia Show (2002)
 * Just Before the Rain (2003) directed by Iain Bloomfield.
 * Masala Girls: The Wedding (2004) written and directed by Perveen Hussain and Sri Sarker.
 * In God We Trust (2005) by Avaes Mohammad.
 * Dance Without Movement (2007) by Sophia Rashid (revived for the Edinburgh Fringe in 2008).
 * Hiphoperatic(2007) by Tajinder Singh Hayer (revived in 2008).
 * Passengers (2008) by Tajinder Singh Hayer
 * Towards Tomorrow (2008) by Conor Ibrahiem, Randeep Kaur Assi, Sophia Ali and Tajinder Singh Hayer
 * Siege (2008) by Tajinder Singh Hayer
 * 1001 (2009) by Tajinder Singh Hayer