This is no Bollywood raga to riches story, this is the real deal
We all present different faces to the world, but some are more different than most. In this funny and visually stunning solo show, Shane Shambhu reveals the secret life he kept from his school friends, growing up in the cultural melting pot of East London.
Follow Shane’s transformation from ‘fat kid’ to international performer as he rips up ideas of race, language and culture in a bedazzling mix of theatre, dance and film.
Altered Skin is a pioneering, multi-lingual theatre company, formed in 2013 by Creative Director Shane Shambhu, and is based in Birmingham. The unique brand of Altered Skin’s bharatanatyam inspired physical theatre laced with humour integrates movement and text in an exciting and accessible new theatrical vocabulary. All the work is created through collaboration, merging artforms and cultures from global perspectives, initiating new thinking around narratives of transcultural identity.
Shane Shambhu is a Birmingham REP Foundry Alumni, Artistic Associate of Centre for Advanced Training Yuva Gati and Artist In Residence at DanceXchange. As a multi-faceted artist trained in the South Indian performing art of Bharatanatyam, his artistic career spans many different roles across genres including work with BBC, British Council, Complicité, Royal Opera House, Theatre Ad Infinitum, Menagerie Theatre, Shobana Jeyasingh, Jatinder Verma, Simon McBurney and Nigel Planer. More recently, he was Movement Director for Conundrum at Young Vic, Axiom Of Choice by Marcus Du Sautoy and Outside The Box with Untied Artists & The Play House, part of the Commonwealth Games 2022 Festival.
| Director, choreographer & performer | Shane Shambhu |
| Composer | Surinder Sandhu |
| Writer | Jonathan Lichtenstein |
| Research partner | Mark Hamilton |
| Dramaturgical support | Donald Hutera |
| Video design | Martin Dewar |
| Set & costume design | Lydia Hardiman |
| Lighting design | Ben Pacey |
| Technician | Mick Diver |
| Producer | Sarah-Jane Watkinson |
Korzo Zaal