Salt in the Sugar Jar

by Nikesh Shukla

Mayfest: MAYK & Theatre Bristol, 2015; Beaford Rural Touring 2016

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In 2010, when my mother died, I was clearing out the freezer to make room for dishes sent by well-wishers and I found some of her old curries. My sister and I ate them. They were the last things my mum ever made that we would taste. They conjoured her briefly, in our minds. I then realised that I never learnt to cook like her, because she wouldn’t write the recipes down. To conjure my mum, I began learning to cook her dishes with my relatives, all burnt pans, sliced fingers and misshapen rotis. This is the story of that journey.

 

Based on Nikesh’s award winning autobiographical novella, The Time Machine, Salt in the Sugar Jar invites you into an intimate storytelling performance that combines the preparing, cooking and sharing of food with a funny and bitter-sweet reflection on memory, family and grief.

 

And yes, there will be food.

Written and Performed by Nikesh Shukla
Directed by Nik Partridge

Designed by Rosanna Vize

Sound and composition by Timothy X Atack

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