Bungalow is the first full-length play from emerging Anglo-Indian writer Ruth D’Silva, and was shortlisted in 2023 for the RSC’s 37 Plays Folio. Exploring the duty of care and the burden of shame in a contemporary Anglo-Indian family, Bungalow is a vital new work about one woman’s attempt to take control of her own story.
We spoke to Ruth to find out more…
Hi Ruth, It’s lovely to be speaking with you! Could you introduce us to your new show, Bungalow?
Hi there Close Up Culture! So lovely to be chatting with you. I’d love to tell you about my show. Bungalow is about a young Anglo-Indian woman who returns to her childhood bungalow and tries without success to reveal a dark secret to her Catholic family. However the bungalow, a brick construct, born with the stain of sin on its soul, groaning with the weight of keeping this secret in its walls, steps in to help her.
What was the writing process for this like? Did you find it similar or different to other pieces you have written?
In 2020 I made myself a pact, no matter what money-earning job you’re doing, find four hours a day Monday to Friday to write. This has worked for me in developing a craft, and it’s been a beautiful thing to rely on – four hours of just me and the page. As a rulemy first draft is torturous and very hard to get out. I find the real writing in the redrafting. This has been the same for all the pieces I write. However the impulse to write Bungalow has been different to other work. The impulse that set off the Bungalow process was to get a thorny truth out of my body and onto the page. The impulse to adapt colonial novel Black Narcissus was the wish to tell the story from the point of view of the conquered, not the conqueror.
What element of the production did you find most difficult to write?
Funnily enough I find the “avatar” character, the character that represents me in the story, the hardest to write. That’s because my “avatar” character tends to be quite passive, merely reacting to events around them. I think this passiveness comes from a wish not to be judged. Making the heroine, Agatha, proactive and not passive has been a steep challenge, but it’s very exciting to see her take control of her own story.
How was the casting process? The performance dives into some deep themes, did this make the process harder would you say?
It’s a hard task for an actor to walk into a room, submerge themselves in a very dark world for twenty minutes and walk out again. We created a joyful and informal arena, chatting to the actors before and after their audition. It might be worth mentioning that due to budget constraints we couldn’t see as many actors as we wanted, so we took great care before selecting our list for auditions. There’s phenomenal talent out there. We were blown away by what we saw.
What advice would you give to any aspiring playwrights?
Two bits of advice. First: no matter what day job you have, put a few hours aside every day to write in the same place at the same time. Inspiration needs to know where to find you and the industry doesn’t respect writers who don’t write. Second bit of advice: this is a very tough industry. You need to network and build up those contacts. It’s doubly hard for people who don’t have the ease of the middle-class upbringing to hold them, but it’s a necessary skill. No one likes to network. I recently went up to someone to say “hi” and he put his hand in my face. Don’t waste time (like I did) going into paroxysms of self-loathing if this happens to you. I’ve learned that these theatre folk are extremely busy. Every second counts to them. Take nothing to heart. Be brave, go out there and create your network. It’s taken me a painful two decades to learn how to do this and find a few good allies. But there are kind people in the industry. You will find them. Go where the warmth is. Find your family. Mine are Theatre503 and Tara Theatre a sprinkling of hard-working people in various other theatres and my many very kind, brilliant writer friends.
How did you get into theatre and art?
I got into writing theatre from a wish to change my story. Salman Rushdie says something like, “If you don’t tell your own story, other people tell it for you, and you are in prison.” I believe that theatre can change the story and release us from the prisons of class, racism, abuse and misogyny.
If you could work on any production, whether that be on Stage or Screen, what would you love to work on?
I have a dream of making a feature film called Indie Girl, based on my own experience as an Anglo-Indian singer-songwriter trying to break into the misogynistic and racially biased dying Britpop scene in the noughties. I want it to be funny, nostalgic and inspiring.
What is next for you?
Among the other things I’ve got in the pipeline, I’m working on that Black Narcissus adaptation with director Adam Karim. The original novel focuses on a group of white English nuns setting up a convent in India; this adaptation flips the perspective from the coloniser (the nuns) to the colonised (the Indian locals). We’re very excited about this, we’ve had support from the wonderful MGCfutures, Donmar and Stratford East. I’m also working on Merle, a four-part TV series about real-life Hollywood actor Merle Oberon who passed for white in order to make it as a star in the Golden Age of Hollywood, at the eventual cost of her life. This screenplay is supported by Kay Mellor Screenwriters’ Lab and Tall Story Pictures.
Title image by Harry Elletson
