CAMDENWALLA Review

If you plan on visiting North London in the coming weeks, it is definitely worth stopping at the Camden People’s Theatre to see CAMDENWALLA. 

Set inside the actual building where the real events took place over 30 years ago, CAMDENWALLA tells the story of the Camden Monitoring Project, a community-led organisation founded in the 1990s to document racist violence in North London and provide safe transport home for local Bengali workers facing harassment and attack after late-night restaurant shifts.

Emerging in the shadow of racist murders including Altab Ali, Richard Everitt and Stephen Lawrence, the organisation operated at a time when racist violence was frequently ignored or dismissed by authorities, forcing communities to organise for their own protection. Volunteers answered emergency calls, recorded testimonies and organised lifts home for vulnerable workers, creating vital grassroots networks of care, solidarity and resistance.

The play, written and directed by Jonny Khan, follows Muhammad (played by Bhasker Patel) and his 16-year-old niece Alima (played by Nusrath Tapadar) over the course of one escalating night in 1994, as tensions rise and the pair confront generational divides, competing ideas of activism, and the emotional labour of protecting a community under pressure.

Developed through archival research and conversations with members of Camden’s Bangladeshi community, the production which is co-produced by Camden People’s Theatre draws on real testimony from residents connected to the Drummond Street area, bringing an overlooked chapter of London history vividly to the stage. The Camden Monitoring Project itself was founded by community activist Nasim Ali, who would later become the UK’s first Bangladeshi and Muslim Mayor.

The performance is captioned in both English and Bangla which allows accessibility to a wider audience. 

This is an important story based on true events which needs to be told and which Patel and Tapadar deliver with equal parts solemnity and good humour. Their familial rapport is believable – the tensions and disagreements between older, traditional uncle and teenage niece pushing boundaries, the care and concern for one another and the witty banter. This play confronts a serious issue without labouring the point. 

References are made to two of the longest- standing bhel poori houses on neighbouring Drummond Street, Diwana (established in 1971) and Ravi Shankar (established in 1982) – why not do what we did and have a meal there before or after the performance for the full sensory experience? 

CAMDENWALLA is playing every night at 7:15pm at the Camden People’s Theatre until 4th July with additional 3pm matinee performances on Saturdays. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit https://cptheatre.co.uk/whatson/CAMDENWALLA

Website: https://cptheatre.co.uk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/camdenpeoplestheatre 

Written by Morgan Vaughan