Conversations, dispatches and ideas from the Bush Theatre.
“so many women have been lost at sea
so many stories have been swept away”
Meet the cast of Chiaroscuro, an explosive gig-theatre event that breathes new life into Scottish National Poet Jackie Kay’s masterpiece.
Aisha, Yomi, Beth and Opal couldn’t be more different, but when Aisha hosts a dinner party, the friends soon discover that they’re all looking for an answer to the same question. Does it lie in Aisha’s childhood? Or in Beth and Opal’s new romance? Who will tell them who they really are?
Shiloh Coke and Anoushka Lucas play couple Beth and Opal. Gloria Onitiri plays Yomi, and Preeya Kalidas plays Aisha.
This production is directed by Lynette Linton, marking her first production as Bush Artistic Director.
Shiloh Coke Beth
You might be familiar with Shiloh if you managed to catch our sell-out run of Misty, for which she was also a Musical Director and Musician. She is currently starring in Small Island at the National Theatre. Other stage credits include Emilia (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Tempest (Donmar Warehouse/ St Anne’s Warehouse New York), Julius Caesar (Donmar Warehouse) and Henry IV (Donmar Warehouse).
Shiloh will soon appear in Aisling Bea’s new comedy This Way Up for Channel 4.
Preeya Kalidas Aisha
Preeya’s television and film credits include: Britz (Channel 4) England Expects (BBC) Jump Boy (Channel 4), East is East, Casualty (BBC) Doctors (BBC), Goggle eyes (BBC) and Banglatown Banquet (BBC).
Other TV credits include Bodies (BBC),Mistresses (BBC), EastEnders (BBC), Hounslow Diaries (BBC 3).
Film credits include Four Lions, Bollywood Carmen, Bend It Like Beckham and Bollywood Queen.
On stage Preeya originated the leading role of Priya in AR Rahmans Bombay Dreams (Apollo Theatre). Other Theatre includes Oxford Street (Royal Court), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat (Adelphi Theatre), Khandan(Royal Court), Bend it Like Beckham (Phoenix Theatre) for which she was nominated for ‘Best Supporting Actress’ at The Olivier Awards andSchool of Rock (Gillian Lynne Theatre).
Preeya also hosts her own radio show on BBC Asian Network every Sunday 1-3pm.
Anoushka Lucas Opal
Anoushka is a singer, songwriter, composer and actress. Her debut album Dark Soul was released on 12 July.
Her music has been championed on Radio 2, where she has appeared on the Jamie Cullum show and BBC Introducing, and she was the inaugural winner of Jazz FM’s Love Supreme Competition in 2013.
She has sold out shows at Cheltenham Jazz Festival, the 606, and Bush Hall, and in the past year supported Tom Oddell, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Ashley Henry.
As a theatre composer, Anoushka co-composed an original score for Klook’s Last Stand (Park Theatre/NAMT Festival), and The Etienne Sisters (Theatre Royal Stratford East) with Sheila Atim and Nikki Yeoh. Anoushka also composed and performed in Sparks (Edinburgh Festival, voted Best Musical of The Fringe). As an actor, Anoushka played Mary Magdalene in the Olivier Award winning production of Jesus Christ Superstar (Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre) and appeared in Sparks (Vault Festival/Edinburgh Festival/High Tide Festival).
Gloria Onitiri Yomi
Gloria’s theatre credits include Napoli, Brooklyn (National Tour/Park Theatre), Hadestown (National Theatre), Brighton Rock (National Tour/Pilot theatre), 101 Dalmatians (Birmingham Rep), Caroline, or Change (Chichester Festival Theatre), Taming of the Shrew (Globe Theatre), The Grinning Man (Bristol Old Vic), The Stripper (St James Theatre), Clybourne Park (National Tour), Wrong Songs for Christmas (National Theatre), Home Theatre UK (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Green Living (Old Vic/New Voices), Jack & the Beanstalk (Park Theatre), Egusi Soup(Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds), The Bodyguard (The Adelphi Theatre), The Tempest (Bath Theatre Royal), Charlotte’s Web (Polka Theatre), Takeaway (Theatre Royal Stratford East), Amphibians(Offstage Theatre), Hurried Steps (New Shoes Theatre), The Lion King (The Lyceum) and Been So Long (Young Vic).
TV includes Grace Under Pressure (Sky Arts), Doctors (BBC), Splatalot (BBC/ABC/YTV), The Window(IWC Media/Channel 4), Porgy and Bess(BBC Opera), Bad Girls (Shed Productions) and Grass (BBC).
On film she has appeared in Resurrecting the Street Walker (Scala Films).
