Ashrafi and Bilal are orphaned siblings stranded and defined by the troubles in Kashmir. 18 year old Bilal is the pride of the region, part of a teenage football team set for great heights, and pushed to the limits by the violence around them. Haunted by hope, his sister is caught in the past, and Bilal is torn between escaping the myths of war and the cycles of resistance.
Interweaving true stories and testimonies with Islamic storytelling, the play paints a magical portrait of a generation of radicalised kids, and a beautiful landscape lost to conflict.
“One of the best plays of recent times” The Mumbai Theatre Guide
The most militarized place on this planet , the Kashmir Valley has 800,000 Indian Soldiers , which is more than the number of American Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan put together. It is perhaps the only place which is part of the budgets of 3 countries: India, China and Pakistan and still continues to be extremely underdeveloped.
During the partition of India , the fate of Kashmir was undecided and the white paper on the plebiscite of Kashmir was issued in 1948 ( and later ratified by the UN) that stated that the fate of Kashmir will be decided by the people of Kashmir through an election and they will decide if Kashmir will be part of India, Pakistan or Independent. This Plebiscite is still pending.
Abhishek Majumdar
The Royal Court has worked with emerging playwrights in India for over ten years. Abhishek Majumdar’s The Djinns of Eidgah was developed as part of a project in collaboration with Rage Productions Mumbai and the British Council in 2010, which challenged 12 writers from all over India to write a play asking urgent questions about their changing country. The final plays were all performed in their original language as part of the Writers Bloc Festival at the Prithvi Theatre in Mumbai in January 2012 and a selection, including The Djinns of Eidgah, were then chosen to be performed as readings at the Royal Court in November 2012.
The Djinns of Eidgah is presented as part of International Playwrights: A Genesis Foundation Project, with additional support from the British Council.
Running time: 2 hrs 20 mins including interval
