WIPERS Coming to Coventry's Belgrade Theatre

The Belgrade Theatre is thrilled to present the UK premiere stage production of Wipers, a new play by Ishy Din inspired by the real life story of Khuddadad Khan, the first South Asian soldier to be awarded a Victoria Cross for his extraordinary bravery at the First Battle of Ypres.

Directed by Curve Associate Director Suba Das, this startling new piece of work honours the contribution of the million South Asian soldiers who fought alongside British soldiers during the First World War.

A co-production between Leicester Curve, the Belgrade Theatre and Watford Palace, Wipers will visit B2 from Thurs 12 - Sat 21 May.

Wipers is set in October 1914 when the British forces, bolstered by huge numbers of volunteer soldiers from across the Empire, have suffered huge casualties at Ypres, in one of the first bloody battles of The Great War.

As a sole survivor on the battlefield holds off the advancing enemy troops, a group of South Asian and British soldiers seek refuge in an abandoned barn. Over the course of a single night, this group of men must confront their fears and find a way to come together if they are to survive.

Director Suba Das said, 'Not far into my research into the period, I discovered that over a million South Asian men volunteered to join the British Army during the First World War. What astonished me even more was that, as a nationality, South Asians received one of the highest percentages of Victoria Crosses during the conflict. I think that one of the things we can be really proud of here in the UK is our long-tradition of respecting and celebrating diversity. I think it's important that audiences understand that this tradition of collaboration goes back a long way, before 1914 even. Yes, that history isn't without its complexities. Yes, there are aspects of that history which should be celebrated and others that we would rather forget but ultimately, it's what made Britain the country it is today. That's what we want people to take away from the show - especially young audiences - that extraordinary things happen when people come together.'

Jassa Ahluwalia plays Thomas. His theatre credits include Skin a Cat (Vault Festival), Piranha Heights (The Old Red Lion), Peter Pan (Camberley Theatre), Treasure Island (The Derek Grant Organisation), and Aladdin (The Playhouse, Whitley Bay). His television credits include Peaky Blinders, Legends, Unforgotten, Some Girls, Ripper Street, The Whale, The Bible, and Some Girls. His film credits include Generation Z, Dragonheart: Druid's Curse, Resistance, L2K, Assessment, My Angel and Journey to the Moon.

Waleed Akhtar plays Ayub. His theatre credits include Re: Home (The Yard), Back Down (Birmingham REP), Velocity (Finborough Theatre), The Kite Runner (Nottingham Playhouse), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Tooting Arts Club), Under 11's (Soho Theatre), Love Match (Cheltenham Everyman). His television credits Include Edge Of Heaven and Dustbin Baby. His film credits include The Chop, Night Bus, Miss You Already, Salmon Fishing In The Yemen, Sidney, Sparks And Embers, Lipstikka, Diary Of A Jihadi, Scratch and Tonight.

Sartaj Garewal plays A.D. His theatre credits include Behind the Beautiful Forevers (National Theatre), Zindabad (Gate Theatre), Decade (Theatre 503), Vibrant Festival - Ahwi Tapu (Finborough Theatre), Tinderbox (Bush Theatre), Little India (Arts Theatre and national tour), Too Close To Home (Lyric Hammersmith and national tour) Romeo and Juliet (Royal Exchange), East Is East (New Vic Theatre, Stoke), The Taming of the Shrew (Arcola Theatre), London Continental (Arcola and London tour), The Tale of the Sleeping Mummy (Southwark Playhouse) and Theatre 503 Futures Festival. His television credits include House of Anubis, Dirty War and Keen Eddie. His film credits include Desi Boys, Tezz, Non-Resident, The Infidel, The Baseline, Talking Film, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Cats and Trees, Christie, Smokin' Gun, Ladders, and Bagman.

Simon Rivers plays Sadiq. His theatre credits include The Charming Man (Theatre 503), Doctor Faustus (Stratford Circus/Present Moment Theatre Company), Where's My Desi Soulmate? (Rifco Arts/Stratford Theatre Royal), Mela (West Yorkshire Playhouse), and The Algebra of Freedom (7:84 Theatre Company). His television credits include No Offence, Doctors (series regular) and Crash; and for film, ID2: Shadwell Academy.

Suba Das directs. Suba is Curve's Associate Director. He curates Curve's Inside Out Festival which celebrates new work made in the region and has previously directed for the National Theatre Studio, Theatre Royal Stratford East, Tamasha and The Young Vic. Directing credits at Curve include Abigail's Party by Mike Leigh, the European premiere of Shiv by Aditi Kapil, and productions with young people of Serious Money by Caryl Churchill and Mother Clap's Molly House by Mark Ravenhill. He is currently developing a new British circus show with the Roundhouse and National Centre for Circus Arts and a world premiere opera for the Royal Opera House and London Philharmonic Orchestra.

Ishy Din. Ishy has written plays for radio: John Barnes Saved My Life, Life's Like That and Parking and Pakoras. For the theatre: Snookered was produced by Tamasha/Oldham Coliseum/The Bush and toured in 2012. He was the 2012 Pearson Writer in Residence at the Manchester Royal Exchange and in 2013 Snookered won 'Best New Play' at the Manchester Theatre Awards. In the same year, he wrote short film Perfume for Eclipse Theatre's '10 x 10? online project and his half hour standalone comedy drama Doughnuts was broadcast on C4 as part of the 'Coming Up' season; also short film Our Lad was produced, directed by Rachna Suri, which was selected for multiple international festivals. In 2014 his monologue for Company TSU played in a double bill called Beats North at Edinburgh Fringe Fest and on tour and he took part in the Bush/Kudos new writing scheme. For television: he is developing an original drama pilot under the BBC's Original Drama scheme called Midnight Dreams; he is commissioned to write on The ABC for The Forge/C4; he is developing an original legal drama with Endor Productions and a feature film with acclaimed director Gurinder Chadha, development funded by Creative England.

Tickets for Wipers are priced from £10.25 - £17 with concessions available. For further information and to book, call the Belgrade Box Office on 024 7655 3055 or visit www.belgrade.co.uk where tickets are cheaper.

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