''The Father and the Assassin'' is a play written by

Anupama Chandrasekhar Anupama Chandrasekhar is an Indian playwright born and based in Chennai. She is best known for her play ''The Father and the Assassin'', which earned her a nomination for the Evening Standard Theatre Awards for Best Play and was a finalist for ...

. It tells the story of

Nathuram Godse Nathuram Vinayak Godse (19 May 1910 – 15 November 1949) was the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a Hindu nationalist from Maharashtra who shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point blank range at a multi-faith prayer meeting in Birla ...

, a follower of Gandhi who would go on to shoot him. The play premiered on 12 May 2022 at the National Theatre in London, directed by

Indhu Rubasingham Indhu Rubasingham, , is a British theatre director and the current artistic director of the Kiln Theatre (formerly the Tricycle Theatre) in Kilburn, London. Early life Born in Sheffield to Tamil parents from Sri Lanka in 1970, Rubasingham was ...

Production history

began writing ''The Father and the Assassin'' in 2016. She developed the first and second drafts as a writer-in-residence National Theatre in London. In November 2021, the National Theatre announced its schedule through summer 2022, including ''The Father and the Assassin'' in May on the Olivier stage, starring

Shubham Saraf Shubham Saraf (born March 1992) is a British actor. He earned an ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Award nomination. On television, he is known for his roles in the Netflix crime anthology '' Criminal: UK'' (2019–), the BBC One drama ''A Suitable B ...

alongside Sagar Arya, Ayesha Dharker, and Peter Singh. Further cast members were announced in February 2022. In an interview with ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', Chandrasekhar stated "My job is to chronicle the changes that are happening in society", and that as a result of the rise of

Hindu nationalism Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of social and political thought, based on the native spiritual and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" or the correct term ''Hindū rāṣṭ ...

, Godse had "entered political conversations in India". She wanted to stage this play in Britain, as "I didn't realise there was a gap in the British education system about the empire until I came here". Told from Godse's perspective, Chandresekhar felt it was important to "sift through the mythology surrounding these figures... I didn't want any of the characters to be idols", but admitted she had to take creative liberties with parts of Godse's story due to a lack of information. This marked the fourth time Chandrasekhar worked with director

. Rajha Shakiry did the costume and set design, which included a rotating stage, while Oliver Fenwick did the lighting. In July 2023, it was announced ''The Father and the Assassin'' would return to the National Theatre from 8 September to 14 October 2023, with

Hiran Abeysekera Hiran Abeysekera is a Sri Lankan actor. He won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the stage adaptation of ''Life of Pi''. On television, he is known for his roles in Russell T Davies' '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'' ...

replacing

as Godse.

Tony Jayawardena Anthony Surath Jayawardena is a British actor, known for his roles as Mr Bhamra in the West End musical '' Bend It Like Beckham the Musical'' and for his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare's Globe and Royal National Theatre. I ...

, who had played Baba in the original production, would take over the role of Savarkar from Sagar Arya. Other new cast members included Aysha Kala, while the likes of

Paul Bazely Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity * Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

Ayesha Dharker Ayesha Dharker (born 16 March 1978) is a British actress, known for her appearance as Queen Jamillia, the Queen of Naboo, in '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones,'' and for her stage performances. Her other film roles include s ...

Marc Elliott Marc Gilbert F Elliott (born 19 October 1979) is an English actor from Stratford-upon-Avon, England, who is known for his role as Syed Masood in the BBC television soap opera '' EastEnders''. Personal life Elliott was born on 19 October 1979 ...

, and Ravin J Ganatra would reprise their roles.

Cast and characters

Reception

Critical response

Andrzej Lukowski of ''

Time Out London ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition becam ...

'', who gave the play five stars, compared ''The Father and the Assassin'' to Peter Shaffer's ''

Amadeus Amadeus may refer to: *Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), prolific and influential composer of classical music *Amadeus (name), a given name and people with the name * ''Amadeus'' (play), 1979 stage play by Peter Shaffer * ''Amadeus'' (film), ...

''.

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:father and the assassin, the 2022 plays Biographical plays about activists Biographical plays about politicians Historical plays Plays set in the 1940s Plays depicting Mahatma Gandhi category:Indian independence movement fiction