Being a father in the 21st century is complicated. Being the father of a young son of mixed South Indian, Turkish & Austrian heritage, even more so. Bringing together physical theatre rooted in the Indian performing artform Bharatanatyam and multilingual spoken text and sign languages, Fatherhood explores the cultural & gender expectations on fathers and what it means to be responsible for a child navigating an increasingly complex world.

Drawing from personal experience with contributions from participants from differing cultural backgrounds, the piece also explores how the migrant experience has influenced fathers and fathering across different generations.

The piece features three characters, each reflecting different experiences of fatherhood in their own individual performance language to create three different narratives leading to a highly dynamic and original work.

All performances include integral captions.

Quote from Shane Shambhu, Creator and Performer in Fatherhood

“When I became a dad, the focus of my life completely shifted. I had to embrace a new identity with a different outlook and priorities from my former self. I found myself reflecting on my relationship with my own dad, and how being a father and our approaches to fathering were in some respects completely different, but in others, exactly the same. As the son of an immigrant from India and Singapore, I became interested in exploring how cultural values are passed on from one generation to the next in migrant families.

As the father of a mixed heritage son in Britain, I have to navigate a new set of parameters. How do I even begin the discussion and conversation with my son around race, language and identity being a brown father in modern Britain? How can I help him to negotiate multiple belongings? I wanted to create this work to address these complex questions within the framework of transcultural narratives to explore ways I could re-imagine parenthood in the diasporic space.”

About Altered Skin

Altered Skin is a pioneering, physical theatre company based in Birmingham. Its unique brand of performance rooted in the Indian performing artform Bharatanatyam, integrates movement and multilingual text in an exciting and accessible new theatrical vocabulary.