Ritika Sharma 
Watch the new official The Empress trailer here
On the anniversary of Indian Independence Day (15 August 1947), The Royal Shakespeare Company released a new trailer for The Empress. Written by Tanika Gupta anddirected by Pooja Ghai, this epic human drama shines a light on and offers a fresh perspective on Britain and its relationship with India and the long-established connections between the two nations.
The production will return to the Swan Theatre from Thursday 17 August until 15 September 2023 and will transfer to the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in London from Wednesday 4 October to Saturday 28 October, with press night on Tuesday 10 October. The Empress will then return to the Swan Theatre from Wednesday 1 November to Saturday 18 November 2023.
Spanning a period of 13 years over the ‘Golden Era’ of Empire, this epic drama takes audiences 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 which continues to shape our society today.
Set in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, the play tells the story of the sixteen-year-old Rani Das, ayah (nursemaid) to an English family, who 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), an Indian politician (Dadabhai Naoroji) and a royal servant destined to serve the Queen (Abdul Karim). Full of hopes and dreams of what lies ahead, they each embark on an extraordinary journey.
Tanika Gupta’s writing skilfully illuminates the hidden, overlooked and often purposefully erased realities of Britain’s imperial history. In The Empress characters include historical figures such as Abdul Karim (Munshi and friend to Queen Victoria) and Dadabhai Naoroji (the first Indian MP elected to the British Parliament in 1892 who campaigned for Indian Independence). You can read more about the real-life stories behind The Empress here.
The Empress, by Tanika Gupta, first premiered in the Swan Theatre in 2013 and was directed by Emma Rice. Since then, the play-text has been added to the GCSE Drama and English curriculum through Penguin’s Lit in Colour Campaign, a scheme to increase the number of works by writers of colour on the school curriculum.
Tanika Gupta has written over 25 stage plays that have been produced in major theatres across the UK. Her critically acclaimed adaptation of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House set in colonial Calcutta launched Rachel O’Riordan’s first season as Artistic Director of the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre in 2019.
Tanika was awarded an MBE for Services to Drama and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Tanika is an Artistic Associate at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and was recently announced as one of two new Writers in Residence at The Bush Theatre in 2023. For further details, visit www.tanikagupta.com
The production is directed by Pooja Ghai with Design by Rosa Maggiora. Lighting is by Matt Haskins, Music and Sound by Ben and Max Ringham, Movement by Wayne Parsons, Dramaturgy by Pippa Hill, Casting by Matthew Dewsbury CDG and Martin Poile, and Fights and Intimacy by Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown