Welsh-Iranian musician and sound artist Roshi Nasehi is to reboot her show Ramalama Ding Dong, a multimedia surreal theatre piece inspired by real-life experiences of racism. When previosuly performed it has been compared to the work of Stewart Lee, combining experimental approaches to stand-up comedy, storytelling, singing and live sound art.
In 2022 and 2023, Ramalama Ding Dong was performed in Edinburgh, Brighton, Newcastle and London, including several sold out dates at Camden People's Theatre. This version, Ramalama Remix, again at Camden People's Theatre, is newly updated for the Reform UK era. It aims, in Roshi's words, to “turn something awful and hateful into a piece of art.”
The roots of Ramalama Ding Dong: In 2017, Roshi Nasehi was returning from the Leigh folk festival in Essex, where she had been performing. Accompanying her on the train were her parents and baby. On the journey, the bilingual Roshi exchanged a few words in Farsi with her family.
This was too much to bear for one commuter, a middle-aged white Englishman, who pointedly remarked how angry it made him that people came to this country but “didn’t bother to learn the language”. Roshi surprised the man by sharply rebuking him in English. His bizarre comeback was to repeatedly sneer “ramalama/shamalama/ramadama ding dong” at her, until he got off the train.
This incident formed the basis of this show that combines comedy, confessional vignettes, experimental sound art, live music and visuals. Roshi finds bittersweet humour in the sheer absurdity of racism. But her tone is wry and relatable rather than preachy because, while racism is no laughing matter, it can be ludicrous, surreal and even darkly funny.
Roshi's use of live looping and vocal processing technology creates a range of inventive effects onstage in real time. As Roshi puts it, “repeating and repeating phrases to the point of absurdity”.
Roshi’s real-life stories are complimented by striking visuals from visual artist Al Orange.
The piece also includes tender recorded conversations with Roshi's childhood friend, actor and film director Peter Stray. They reflect on how their friendship developed in an era of brazen classroom racism.
The original piece was developed with the support of an Arts Council England Project’s Grant, a Covid-19 bursary from Sound And Music, plus rehearsal space from New Diorama Theatre and Camden People’s Theatre.
Director: Peyvand Sadeghian, herself a British-Iranian, who staged an acclaimed one-woman show Dual and is a regular cast member on Queen Charlotte.
Script Editors: David Stubbs (Bill Bailey, Alan Davies) and Kerry Andrew (author of Skin)
Music consultant: Marian Rezaei, an award-winning British-Iranian composer and turntablist
Lighting Design and Visuals: Al Orange (Imove)
This new iteration is directed by Kaveh Rahnama (Nearly There Yet)
Also on the bill is another British-Iranian show, I'm Muslamic Don't Panic devised and performed by Bobak Champion.
RAMALAMA REMIX DATES
Wednesday 29 April, Thursday 30 April, Friday 1 May at 9pm at Camden People’s Theatre
Tickets and info here.
Watch a promo video below
Picture: Roshi performing Ramalama Ding Dong in Newcastle’s Star & Shadow in June 2022, Photo by Angela Last
