Guleraana Mir is the co-writer of Santi & Naz, winner of the Pleasance’s Charlie Hartill Fund, which captures how ordinary life must continue even as world-shaking events shift everything.
Award-winning company The Thelmas return to the Pleasance for the Edinburgh Fringe following their critically acclaimed production Ladykiller, with a vibrant production that explores queer love, identity and loyalty, set against the backdrop of a country soon to be changed forever.
Santi & Naz remains playful and light-hearted, even as it explores history that is rarely represented on our stages.
This complex, lyrical show is a touching and honest story of female friendship. It speaks to anyone that’s ever felt like they have no control over what’s happening to them in the world. It’s for friends and lovers, families and history buffs, and for those who know nothing about the Partition of India, but would like to.
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You’re bringing new play Santi & Naz to Edinburgh Fringe, what can you tell us about the play?
Santi & Naz is the story of two young girls and their friendship over the course of several years, during the lead up to the partition of India in 1947. One of them is Muslim, the other is Sikh; they’ve spent their childhood side by side. But with the growing tension and civil unrest, we watch how the social and political effects of Partition are set to tear them apart. The play is equal parts joyous and tragic. It is full of funny and playful moments that we hope will make audiences fall in love with the characters of Santi and Naz.
What inspired you and afshan d’souza-lodhi to write it?
The original concept was born from my desire to tell a story about Partition that wasn’t a ‘Partiton Play’, and Maddy Moore (Artistic Director of The Thelmas)’s desire to tell a story about intense teenage friendships that sometimes transcend labels. We mushed those ideas together through a series of workshops, and came up with the characters and journey of Santi and Naz. When afshan joined the creative team, we all worked together to develop the details of the storyline, fleshing out the characters and their wants and desires.
afshan and I are both committed to telling authentic and nuances stories for South Asian characters, and The Thelmas’ ethos is to centre women’s perspectives in all of our work, so it just made sense that we would move forward together on this project to ensure that the story of Santi and Naz’s love for each other remained the focus of the play, regardless of where there were in history.
It just so happens that we both believe that Partition is an event that deserves to be spoken about more widely, especially in terms of the role Britain played in the division of the country, and subsequent violence that ensued. We want audiences to empathise with how it feels to be a young woman with no control over your life, whether that’s because of family, culture, or government. Our drive definitely comes from our desire to raise awareness of what happened, as well as our love of playful and theatrical storytelling.
Did you find it difficult writing such a personal story?
There is something liberating in writing from your own personal perspective, exploring what you’ve experienced and expressing it in a way that evokes an emotional response in others. That said, Santi & Naz felt personal for me in a very different way, probably because it is several generations removed.
My immediate family have always lived in what is now Pakistan, and therefore weren’t displaced during the events of Partition. However, it wasn’t just the people who moved across the country who experienced trauma. Consider the people left behind, neighbours, coworkers, friends, all abandoned. My grandfathers both spoke about waking up one day to find that people they’d known all their lives had vanished, and they would never hear from them again.
We wrote most of Santi & Naz in 2019, a year after I lost both my grandmothers in the space of 3 months. Telling this story really highlighted the importance of keeping family history alive and provoked a tremendous sense of loss in me. Not only for my grandparents, but the stories they would never tell again. This was a profoundly difficult space to be in, but also inspired me to embed that feeling into the world of the play.
Additionally, I grew up undiagnosed neurodivergent and found friendships very confusing to navigate. Writing Santi & Naz and creating this joyous loving relationship was incredibly healing, it prompted me to reflect on the childhood friends I’m still close with, and realised just how much love I do have in my life. So, while this play was difficult to write at times, ultimately it led to a sense of peace, acceptance and hope, which is what I hope audiences leave with.
How does it feel to be returning to Edinburgh Fringe on the back of The Thelmas’ previous success?
When The Thelmas took Ladykiller to Ed Fringe in 2018, we were relatively unknown as a company. The success of that show was very heartening and empowering. Returning to Pleasance as winners of the Charlie Hartill Fund feels incredible. Not only because of the wealth of support we’re being offered, but as evidence of how important it is to nurture relationships with organisations and audiences. Since 2018, we’re proud to have built a solid following of supporters and cannot wait for them to experience Santi & Naz.
What did you enjoy most about the writing process?
Writing with afshan is so much fun. Despite pausing continuously to drink chai, eat snacks and chat, we write together surprisingly quickly. What I enjoyed the most is the ease with which we tackle problems. Whether that’s with our characters, a plot hole we’ve dug ourselves into, or our different processing styles. I love collaborating, and afshan makes it super easy.
What would you say to anyone thinking of booking to see Santi & Naz?
Santi & Naz isn’t a history lesson; it presents a historical moment through a modern lens. If you are interested in learning more about the events that led to Partition, or want to revel in a (queer) love story, this show is for you. If you’ve ever had a childhood best friend, this show is for you! If you book to see the show, expect to feel all the feels. Santi & Naz celebrates the beauty and resilience of two young women who may or may not look like you, but you’ll definitely be able to relate to, and whose stories definitely deserve to be told.
