Essex Cultural Diversity Project are proud to be supporting Eastern Angles in the development of a new play written by Hannah Kumari, inspired by life of the revolutionary Princess Sophia Duleep Singh and her siblings. Eastern Angles is a regionally focussed theatre company with a broad world view in their approach to creating work with community groups and artists in East Anglia. Princess Sophia was the daughter of Maharajah Duleep Singh who lived in Elveden near Thetford, Norfolk, and had an inspirational life as a Suffragette and activist.

The play will be touring in 2025, so watch this space for more info!

We were invited to a work-in-progress reading of the new play in September 2024, which was a great opportunity to meet the cast, writer and director (pictured below).

About Hannah Kumari

Hannah Kumari is a writer, producer and former actor who manages the Fans For Diversity campaign at The Football Supporters’ Association and is Creative Director of arts organisation co align.Hannah’s debut play ENG-ER-LAND which she wrote and performed toured to over 30 venues from 2021 to 2023, receiving audience and critical acclaim and being nominated for Best Stage Production at The Asian Media Awards. ENG-ER-LAND ran for 2.5 weeks at King’s Head Theatre’s new venue in Islington in Summer 2024 with Nikhita Lesler in the role of Lizzie. The play is inspired by Hannah’s experiences of being a mixed-race teenage football fan in 1997.Hannah has also been commissioned to create work for The Wardrobe Ensemble, Coventry City of Culture, Exeter Northcott Theatre and OperaUpClose. Media appearances include BBC Newsnight, Sky Sports News, BBC Squad Goals, Talk Sport and BBC Sportshour. Hannah’s debut short film Devi was broadcast on Sky Arts in May 2022.

co align is a new arts organisation founded by Hannah and BAFTA-winning opera director PJ Harris. The company’s flagship large-scale opera Displaced will premiere at Woolwich Works in 2025, with an original score from award-winning composer Omar Shahryar, libretto written by Hannah, directed by PJ. Set in 1913, Displaced is inspired by the history of Arsenal FC in the munitions factories of Woolwich and the women’s suffrage movement, and is supported by Arts Council England, Peabody and Berkeley Homes.

Originally from Warwickshire and now based in South East London, Hannah has a BA Hons. in Acting from Bretton Hall and speaks Spanish fluently, after time spent living and working in Spain.