The Ballad of Nihal Armstrong (Kindle edition)
The Ballad of Nihal Armstrong
“I like the rhyming form you have chosen. It works to create a shape for material which is so powerful and emotional that, in a looser form, the poem might explode.” Helen Dunmore, Writer
“Writing a play in verse is a tough call – that fracture-line between form and fluency; but the author found a six-, sometimes seven-beat line where the rhymes didn’t push speech towards doggerel, which is so often the trap, but were laid off by the extra syllable: ‘turned the corner’ [as it were]. I knew it was working because I was caught up in the narrative and wasn’t listening for the rhyme.
Aside from that, it’s a very moving piece and I thought Jaye Griffiths did a great job: not least in giving the lines some air and finding the stresses and line-breaks that the verse was asking for. Guy’s direction was pin-perfect — he used a light touch to terrific effect.” David Harsent, Winner T.S. Eliot prize for poetry 2015
“Rahila Gupta’s heartbreaking, beautiful and important new work tackles the infuriating battles a mother must face by choosing to fight for her disabled son’s dignity, education and very life.” David Schwimmer, Actor (Friends)
Nominated for the OFF WEST END AWARDS, 2013
Best New Play (Rahila Gupta)
Best performance (Jaye Griffiths)
Nominated for Best Solo Performer, EDINBURGH FRINGE, 2013
For a detailed history of productions, press coverage and quotes, click here.
Available to download from Amazon