This Sunday, Soho Theatre’s hugely popular comedy tent returns to Diwali on the Square.
This is the fifth time that Soho Theatre will appear at the Mayor of London’s free, celebratory Diwali festival in the heart of London’s Trafalgar Square.
Featuring a stellar lineup of British South Asian and Indian talent, the comedy tent is headlined by stand-up, TV presenter and podcast host Nish Kumar and hosted by one of India’s most exciting comedy talents, Nirmal Pillai.
There are two chances to catch the show, proceeded by a comedy storytelling workshop led by Sharmila Chauhan, twice shortlisted for the Asian Writer Short Story Award. The workshop and shows are all free and open to everyone.
Joining Kumar on the lineup is:
- Joshua Bethania – Soho Theatre Labs alumnus and winner, finalist and nominee of multiple awards;
- Tej Dhutia – emerging British Asian comedian with a flair for storytelling and observational comedy;
- Shalaka Kurup – fresh from performing at Edinburgh Festival Fringe;
- Nirmal Pillai – One of Instagram’s 25 Under 25 influencers, and one half of India’s most watched crowd-work duo, Abishek and Nirmal (also at Soho Theatre next week)
Soho Theatre India is London’s leading producer of Indian comedy.
Over the past decade, we’ve introduced over 30 Indian acts to the UK, including the 2023 Edinburgh Comedy Best Newcomer, Urooj Ashfaq.
In 2017 we established the first ever comedy tent at Diwali on the Square, bringing the very best comedy from the UK and India to this celebratory festival. Nish Kumar, Aditi Mittal, Anuvab Pal and Kai Samra (alumnus of Soho Young Company) performed to hundreds of people ranging from 2-90 years-old.
2018 saw performances from Daniel Fernandes, Ahir Shah, Sindhu Vee and Kai Samra, and the 2019 line-up was Nish Kumar, Ahir Shah, Kanan Gill, Sunil Patel, Charlie George and Jamie D’Souza.
When Diwali on the Square returned in 2022, Soho Theatre brought Sid Singh, Sahil Shah, Raj Poojara, Priya Hall and Shalaka Kurup, recent winner of the West End New Act of the Year 2023 competition, to the comedy tent.
Soho Theatre is the leader in introducing great Indian talents to British audiences.