The Punkawallah’s Rope

Rooted in Chrys Salt’s highly regarded 2017 collection 'The Punkawallah’s Rope' marking the 70th anniversary of the Partition of India and the India-UK Year of Culture, and born of her performance at the Kolkata Book Fair in 2016 and an immersive month in Kolkata and North East India, this multi-media performance explores the vibrant textures, voices, and contradictions of a continent both dazzling and daunting.

Through layered poems, evocative visuals by artist/film maker Ken Smyth, and haunting instrumentals played by international composer and musician Richard Ingham on alto clarinet, bansuri, gopi yantra, aludu and tongue drum, The Punkawallah's Rope poses the complex question: how can a middle-class white woman begin to understand and engage with this most challenging of continents?

The Punkawallah’s Rope is the fourth major collaboration between poet/performer Chrys Salt, composer/musician Richard Ingham and artist/film maker Ken Smyth. Previous projects are Home Front/Front Line, Weavers of Grass and the award winning film Skookum Jim and the American Dream which have scooped numerous awards and accolades including an Award of Recognition from the IndieFEST film awards. Their collaboration has been described ‘as a sensory feast of vivid poetry, harmonious voices, exquisite drawings and evocative music’.

Praise for previous work:
"A brave, beautiful and deeply unsettling way of making the reader look at long-familiar events" - Morning Star on Home Front/Front Line
"A treat for anyone who enjoys unpretentious but profound poetry" - Writers International on Grass
"a work of urgent, universal relevance" - Gerda Stevenson poet, writer, actress, BAFTA award winner on Home Front/Front Line
"The rhythmic heartbeat of this piece will compel you forward, wrapping you in a tale of creation, compulsion and devastation" - Annette Badland, actress on Skookum Jim and the American Dream

Picture credit: Ronnie Goodyer

Duration: approximately 50 minutes straight through.
Recommended age : 14+

Wednesday 27 May 2026 : 2.30pm
Wednesday 27 May 2026 : 7.30pm

Tickets : £12.50, Universal Credit: £8.00, Under 26s: £6.00
We are grateful to ARTS D&G for sponsoring concession prices on this event.

Available from https://swallowtheatre.co.uk
or telephone 01988 850368

The Swallow Theatre
Moss Park
Ravenstone
Whithorn
DG8 8DR