Peshkar Productions

The success of the workshops and the enthusiasm of the participants led to the formation of Peshkar as a company with a role to promote the arts within the local Asian community by providing a forum for cultural expression.

Between 1991 and 1998 the company operated as a project within the OMBC Arts and Events Unit, gaining funding from North West Arts Board and other local funding sources to run a series of participatory workshop programmes and theatre productions, employing a professional creative team to work with Peshkar's company of participants from the local community.

Since then, the company have continued to make work on a multi-platform basis, expanding their remit to targeting young people from a diverse range of hard to reach backgrounds.

It was directed by Jim Johnson, produced by Bryan Savery and starring Yamina Peerzada from the Rafi Theatre Workshop of Pakistan as Zuhleikah, taking over from Poppy Jakhra from the production's original tour the previous year.

The follow-up production in the FutureDesh project was Sudha Bhuchar's Small Fish Big Cheese, staged at the Unicorn Theatre in January 2012.