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A brilliant parable for our times, combining impish humour with social fury.
—The Stage
Nikita and Riya are two South Asian sisters: insecure, stateless, and desperate for somewhere to call home.
Nikita's work with young migrants requires her to keep her savior complex in check as she negotiates the challenges and hypocrisy of the third sector. Meanwhile, Riya is offered the chance to create an advocate in the form of a homunculus (or fawn), and sees a chance to elevate herself above the cruelty meted out to others.
Sonali Bhattacharyya's play King Troll (The Fawn) is a dark and dystopian exploration of migrant experiences in all their complexity—and the troll that lives within all of us, whispering me, not us,
and definitely me first.
A play that warns, frights and chills us to the bone…Bhattacharyya's play is a meticulous exploration of the migrant experience, that tackles the deep injustices of border control head-on…a thumping parable, it sizzles and stings.
—Time Out
A cracking show that nudges activist drama into atavistic horror…superbly unnerving.
—Guardian
Strikes a careful balance between thriller, political drama and comedy…Bhattacharyya's writing is sharper than ever.
—WhatsOnStage
Captures the heartache and urgency of our times with a spine-tingling poignancy.
—BroadwayWorld
A wickedly clever exposure of state racism and anti-immigration sentiment packed to the punch with humour and spookiness.
—A Youngish Perspective
Brilliant, vital and fresh…horror at its best.
—The Spy in the Stalls
Sonali Bhattacharyya is an award-winning playwright whose plays include: King Troll (The Fawn) (Kali Theatre/New Diorama, London, 2024); Liberation Squares (Fifth Word tour, 2024); Chasing Hares (Young Vic, London, 2022); Two Billion Beats (Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, 2022; an earlier version was staged by the Orange Tree in 2021 as part of their Inside/Outside season), Megaball (National Theatre Learning), 2066 (Almeida Theatre), The Invisible Boy (Kiln Theatre), and White Open Spaces (Pentabus Theatre). Chasing Hares was the winner of Theatre Uncut's 2021 Political Playwriting Award.