5 mins with Saikat and Alix | In Search of Goldoni

Saikat Ahamed is currently back at Bristol Old Vic and in the thick of rehearsal for In Search of Goldoni. 

It's a real South West story of collaboration, produced by Beyond Face, directed by Beyond Face's Artistic Director and founder Alix Harris and supported by Theatre Royal Plymouth and Cornwall's Impossible Producing.

As coincidence would have it, both Beyond Face and Saikat are part of Bristol Old Vic's Associate scheme and we can't wait to see the results of their collaboration!

• How did the story come about?

S: Ha, that’s a big question. So rather than a story, I would say In Search of Goldoni is a deeply personal response to grief and a reflection on religion and belonging. That said, certain events are based heavily on real life. I did have a holiday in 2017 in Venice where I realised I hadn’t really processed some stuff around my father’s death. Just to be clear, it’s also very funny!

• When did Beyond Face decide to producer the show?

Alix: Last year Saikat asked me to come on board to spend a week with him looking at the script and thinking about the future of the work. I fell in love with the script and loved working together. I invited our Artist Development Producer Corinne to come and join us for the sharing and we couldn’t stop speaking about the play afterwards. At Beyond Face I’ve been looking for a piece of work to tour that would amplify our production strand. Beyond Face champions new writing from the South West and this felt like the perfect fit for us. We commissioned Saikat and were very happy that he said yes!

Saikat: Genuinely, I couldn’t imagine this show happening without both Alix as an artist and director and Beyond Face as a company. Also in the R&D last year, Alix showed me what the show was really about even though I’d written it myself. That is the power of a great director in my opinion.

• Saikat – how much do your family inspire you in your writing?

My family are certainly a source of inspiration for my writing, but actually if I’m honest, what inspires me more is the notion of how we each belong in a complex society. For me, I look often at second generation immigrant experiences, at ideas around education, religion, cultural mores and how my life in many ways, has been and still is, a search for how I plug into the world around me.

• Holidays with your family – best (or worst?!)?

S: Driving a hire car down some of the tight cobbled alleyways in certain Italian towns might seem like romantic getaway but it’s actually pretty stressful! In terms of lovely holidays, I have a keen memory of being on a beach in Bournemouth with my Dad in the mid-1980s, building a sandcastle and having an ice cream. It was the perfect afternoon.

A: Last year I got to go away with my sister and two nieces, it was great fun and involved a lot of ice cream, my four year old niece was obsessed with eating the fresh fish and olives as she has such an adult taste!

• You’re both part of BOV’s Associate Artists scheme – did you know each other’s work before then?

S: So quite by coincidence, we are both Associates. Alix runs Beyond Face, Associate Company at BOV. I first met Alix online during the pandemic when I was working with Theatre Bristol and Beyond Face were partnering with them.

A: Then Beyond Face asked Saikat to get involved with Hear Me Now, a publication of global majority audition speeches led by Titilola Dawudu. We also worked together on A Child of Science at BOV. I was Associate Director and Saikat was in the cast.