The directors of Ayna Arts CIC are desperately searching for a mango sapling. Not for gardening, but because they urgently need it for their theatre production Ghoorni, which is about to tour the North of England — Burnley, Oldham and Bradford. If you are curious about the mysterious role of a mango sapling in this play, you must come and watch one of the performances.
Ghoorni is a powerful and emotionally charged theatre production exploring climate injustice through the personal story of a Bangladeshi family across generations. The play weaves together migration, memory, the history of Bangladesh and the country’s past and possible future climate disasters. It also explores how climate history has shaped political history in Bangladesh.
Ayna Arts believes Ghoorni may be the first theatre production of its kind in the UK — and possibly internationally — to intertwine a personal migrant family story with Bangladesh’s climate history, political history and climate injustice.
Despite dealing with serious themes, Ghoorni promises to be a lively, entertaining and emotionally engaging experience featuring music, dance, storytelling, humour, singing and even surprise audience participation.
The project began after Crossing Footprints commissioned Ayna Arts CIC to participate in Manchester Histories Festivaland as a result Jesmin Chowdhury, one of the directors of Ayna Arts CIC, created a short theatre piece for the festival. Following the strong response from audiences in several shows of Ghoorni in London and Manchester over the last four years, Ayna Arts has developed the work into the full touring production Ghoorni.
The play is written by Jesmin Chowdhury and directed by Apu Chowdhury, with Jesmin Chowdhury also working as assistant director.
The production is supported using public funding by Arts Council England, with additional support from Burnley Youth Theatre and Better We CIC.
All performances begin at 12:30pm and are followed by fun and interactive climate awareness workshops for children, young people and adults.
TOUR DATES & VENUES
Saturday 9 May 2026
Burnley Youth Theatre#
Saturday 23 May 2026
Oldham Library Theatre Space
Sunday 24 May 2026
Carlisle Business Centre
Creative Team
Production Manager: Mohammad Fazal
Photography & Videography: Murad Chowdhury
Technical Support: Udoy Nafis
Media: Abu Sayeed Chowdhury
Choreographers: Monidipa Seal & Jayati Pal
Singers: Mitra Kabir, Farhana Zafar, Mukarram Hossain, Mohammad Fazal
Musicians: Luthfur Rahman, Javed Siddiqui, Mukesh Kannan, Nuruzzaman Ahmed
Actors: Ishan Dasgupta, Eela Muhaimin, Jayati Pal, Murad Chowdhury, Gulsun Ara Luna, Fareeza Siddiqui, Arisha Fazal, Muaaz Hossain, Mousumi Sengupta, Apu Chowdhury, Jesmin Chowdhury, Rafiqur Rahman Chowdhury
