Indian Ink

Indian Ink description

Tom Stoppard's Indian Ink is on stage at Hampstead Theatre, starring Felicity Kendal.

It's sad to say goodbye to Sir Tom Stoppard, one of the country's best-loved and most respected playwrights, who died in early December 2025. Director Jonathan Kent has led the major UK production of Stoppard's brilliant satire since 1995, a celebration of the man's extraordinary talent.

The plot blends 1930s India with England in the 1980s. In India, the well-known Bloomsbury Group poet Flora Crewe travels around India for her health. Her lack of social inhibition scares a lot of people, but she captivates the good-looking Indian artist Nirad Das. Roll time forward to the 1980s, and Flora's sister, Mrs Swan, meets a biographer from the USA who wants to find out more about Flora's adventures. Then Nirad Das's son turns up with a nude painting his dad did of Flora. The play satirises the ruling class and academia's self-regard and sense of superiority, an evocative adventure into art, passion, and the way creativity smashes cultural barriers.

Set designer Leslie Travers, costume designer Nicky Shaw, lighting designer Peter Mumford, sound designer Christopher Shutt, composer Kuljit Bhamra and assistant director Finlay Glen make up the creative team, along with casting director Amy Ball.

Stoppard's long-time on-off partner Felicity Kendal (Noises Off, TV's The Good Life) plays Mrs Swan, performing in the play three decades after her smash hit role as Flora Crewe in its world premiere. This time around Ruby Ashbourne Serkis (Grace Pervades) plays Flora Crewe, with Gavi Singh Chera (Pins and Needles, The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power) as Nirad Das and Sagar Arya (The Father and the Assassin) as Coomaraswami. Mark Carlisle (Once) plays Resident, Neil D'Souza (Out of Season) plays Dilip, with Tom Durant-Pritchard (The Tempest) as David Durance, Aaron Gill (East is South) as Anish Das, and Irvine Iqbal (The Father and The Assassin) as Rajah / the Politician. The cast is completed by Evan Milton (Edward II) as the Englishman / Eric, Bethany Muir (Water Under The Bridge) as the Englishwoman / Nell, Donald Sage Mackay (Girl From The North Country) as Eldon Pike and Sushant Shekhar (Sophia) as Nazrul.

Buy Indian Ink tickets to enjoy a dazzling exploration of colonialism, identity, and cultural exchange, delivered with Stoppard's famously powerful intellectual edge.

Starring:

Felicity Kendal

Playing at Hampstead Theatre

Eton Avenue, Swiss Cottage, London, NW3 3EU GB (venue info)

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