soundcloud.com
Until My Last Breath by Sharmila Chauhan
This audio play was inspired by a speech to troops in 1942
Plays and audio dramas inspired by our collections
Since 2016 we have been collaborating with Tamasha Theatre Company and Applied Stories. Together we use our records collection to inspire audio plays and performances that allow audiences to engage in new and refreshing ways with complex and nuanced readings of Britain’s colonial and imperial past.
Global Second World War: Being and Not Being (2025)
The Being and Not Being audio dramas were commissioned as we began preparations to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in ways that reflected the experiences of the conflict from the perspective of those in Africa, South Asia, and the Caribbean. We were particularly struck by the strange sets of fragments of language materials, speeches, training manuals and propaganda in our collection, which informed what was eventually produced. The result were two remarkable pieces, one focusing on the character of Shelele being recruited into the army in East Africa (Motherland) and the other fictionalising the character of a British general in India and his relationships with his Indian subordinates (Until My Last Breath).
soundcloud.com
Motherland by Ery Nzaramba
This audio play was inspired by reoports from the King's African Rifles.
Irish War of Independence (2022)
The Irish War of Independence audio plays, The Bulletin and Persons Unknown, were commissioned to help explore more about the military dimensions to the conflict and the efforts on both sides to win the propaganda war. The plays use records at The National Archives to integrate the high politics with the everyday lives of people effected by the conflict in inventive, witty and powerful ways.
youtube.com
The Bulletin by Barbara Bergin
The Bulletin, by Irish playwright Barbara Bergin, follows an illegal Sinn Fein publication and its daily struggle to document British army actions in an age long before social media.
youtube.com
Persons Unknown by Fin Kennedy
Persons Unknown, by British playwright Fin Kennedy, examines the British army’s Courts of Inquiry, set up in place of coroner’s courts under martial law, and intended to control information reaching the public domain.
Colonial Seafarers - Once British Alway British (2021)
Once British Always British is a collection of three 30-minute audio dramas that are the result of a collaboration between The National Archives and Tamasha Theatre Company and explore the migration of Yemeni, Indian and Caribbean sailors to British ports during the 1920s. Each story is inspired by material researched during a writing residency at The National Archives.
These plays look at an aspect of the post-First World War world when countries sought to count the cost while finding ways to rebuild. The plays are written by three outstanding playwrights, Satinder Chohan, Hassan Abdulrazzak and Mel Pennant, whose research at The National Archives has produced three immersive dramas that will leave audiences captivated.
youtube.com
The Fireman by Hassan Adbulrazzak
When Sahar’s grandmother Rose asks her to investigate the truth about her Yemeni father Ali Abdul, Sahar finds herself on a train to London just as the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic is taking hold.
youtube.com
Steam Rises by Satinder Chohan
After months of abuse at sea on board a merchant navy vessel, ‘fireman’ Buhur – one of the many Indian men employed to shovel coal into the ship’s furnace below decks – illegally jumps ship in 1920s Liverpool.
youtube.com
A Stranger in a Strange Place by Mel Pennant
The main focus of this drama is Claudius and May Smart. Claudius has worked hard all his life, but now all doors to employment have been closed on him. His crime? Falling in love with a British white woman.
Loyalty and Dissent (2017)
As part of the First World War commemoration programme, this project worked with historians and playwrights to devise a series of short plays and accompanying education resources exploring the topic of South Asia and the First World War.
Archived page
Corner of a Foreign Field by Hassan Abdulrazzak
It is October 1914 and Maulana Sadr Ud-Din is battling with General Barrow, the Military Secretary to the India Office, over the appropriate burial grounds for Muslim soldiers. With Turkey entering the war on the side of the Central Powers much could rest on the decision that is made.
Archived page
Step Child by Amy Ng
The British Government promises that all British subjects are equal before the law. But when America begins blocking the growing number of Indian Sikhs seeking to enter the US reneging on an Anglo-American treaty, will the British step in? A British spy and his wealthy Parsi informant discuss the potential revolutionary ramifications if the British do not.
Archived page
Cama
In a trench in Marseille the loyalty of three Indian soldiers is tested when the legendary Madame Cama asks them to surrender for the good of the motherland. Will carrying on the fight really prove their loyalty to the crown? Or is the battle for Indian independence the real fight that should be had?
Archived page
The Radicalisation of Vir Singh by Amman Paul Singh Brar
Arjun sits restless and scared as he prepares to enter the battlefield for the first time. Inspired by compatriot Vir’s legends of mighty Sikh warriors, Arjun becomes resolute in his determination to bring honour to his family. But with false reports of cowardice emerging, what story will history remember?
Archived page
Smile
Three Indian soldiers recover at the iconic Brighton Pavilion hospital. Every detail is provided for but something isn’t quite right. The soldiers question why the plentiful food and high quality care is served in the shadow of guards and bars across windows. Will they be honoured as heroes as the British had led them to believe, or are they merely prisoners being readied again for war?