Name, Place, Animal, Thing

This semi-staged reading will take place at the Almeida, as part of Six Artists in Search of a Play.

Since arriving in the city, Nancy has been housed, clothed, fed and educated by the middle-class Maliks. But, there is a difference between being ‘like one of the family’ and being family and Nancy’s ambitions reach beyond the limited horizon of a female domestic worker. Name, Place, Animal, Thing explores the complexities of class, caste and gender within the contemporary Indian home.

Atri Banerjee on why he chose this play: “When I first came across the work of the formidable journalist, essayist and creative writer Annie Zaidi, I was immediately struck by the way she marries searing political insight with human, truthful stories. Name, Place, Animal, Thing, Zaidi’s first play, is one such story: I was totally gripped when I first read it. When I learned it has never before been staged, I leaped at the chance to bring it to life as part of this season. The story of Nancy and the Maliks is one I see echoed in aspects of my own life both in the UK and in India. While the family and class dynamics described within the play are specific to contemporary Indian life, they resonate universally. I was particularly drawn to its themes of loss; of belonging; of home.”