A Jute Lascar Story by Stepney Community Trust and Arts Without Borders

A Jute Lascar’s Journey” – set during the early to mid-20th Century.  This is a powerful new theatrical production tracing the untold story of a ten-year-old boy called Shahabuddin.

Shahabuddin runs away from his jute cultivators in East Bengal to find his father. His father had left for the forest of Goalpara in Assam to make a new life after losing everything due to his debts.

Shahabuddin’s search for his father ends in failure, but he unexpectedly meets Bablu, a lascar returning from overseas. Fascinated by Bablu’s stories Shahbuddin wants to become a lascar too.

Inspired by real jute cultivation and transportation stories covering the globe, this production explores stories of migration, survival, loss and the cost to ordinary people of the ambitions of British colonial rule. It is a story of disappearance and rediscovery – of a man who travelled the world only to vanish into history.

Funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund

The Stepney Community Trust (SCT) is a community-led charity with a long history of self-help actions. They work for justice and equality, and support residents to access good quality services.

Arts Without Borders is a London based that runs arts based activities, projects and productions. Their projects explore and promotes social and cultural issues.