{"id":383181,"date":"2025-08-29T19:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T19:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/383181\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T19:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T19:07:11","slug":"hahaha-hamlet-the-nen-north-edinburgh-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/383181\/","title":{"rendered":"Hahaha-Hamlet \u2013 The NEN \u2013 North Edinburgh News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Asian Art Awards \u2013 Award Ceremony at MOXY Fountainbridge<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nen.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Group-photo-of-winners-scaled.jpg?ssl=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"2560\" height=\"945\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Group-photo-of-winners-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-212162\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Members of the Scottish Indian community were prominent among the winners of the 2025 Asian Art Awards at the Edinburgh Fringe. The awards have been running since 2014 and exist to bring Asian artists together at the Fringe and reward the best of them. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">90 shows participated in 2025, up significantly from 55 in 2024.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>The highly acclaimed \u201cKanpur: 1857\u201d, written and co-performed by Edinburgh-based Niall Moorjani and which showed at the Pleasance, won the award for Outstanding Production.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Set at the time of the Kanpur uprising in India, this new play \u201ccomically satirises contemporary conflicts around gender, colonial violence, and making art in times of crisis\u201d. The award was collected by the production\u2019s musician, Sodhi. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Shows by Sanjay Lago \u00a0(Love me Like a Chai Tea Latte [wearing the colourful shirt]) and Dance Ihayami, with their show Dansa Rickshaw, also won awards for Highly Commended performances (i.e. Runners Up). Sanjay is Scottish Indian while Dance Ihayami is \u201cScotland\u2019s Indian dance company\u201d. Like Sodhi, Sanjay is from Glasgow (\u201cIbrox, don\u2019t judge me\u201d he says).<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Hahaha-Hamlet from Hong Kong, which played at the Paradise Green venue on George IV Bridge, won the award for Outstanding Show. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The award reviewers simply loved this \u201ccaptivating reimagining of Shakespeare\u2019s classic tale, blending original musical with dark humour [..and..] intertwining the struggles of contemporary Hongkongers with Hamlet\u2019s timeless tale\u201d. <\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Energetic, inventive and incredibly affecting with some reviewers moved to tears as the tales of Hamlet and Hong Kong coincided at the end. The whole cast were in attendance to receive the award [red and black t-shirts under their clothes] and they were delighted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Mayuri Bhandari of the Anti \u201cYogi\u201d took home the award for Outstanding Female while Jeremy Rafal won Outstanding Male for\u00a0The Boy from Bantay \u201ca heartwarming journey of growth and self-discovery\u201d. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Mayuri was in attendance with her percussionist Neel Agrawal while Jeremy sent a video message to the audience. Both shows were hugely popular. At the Anti \u201cYogi\u201d the audience were invited to \u201cJoin Mayuri Bhandari and Kali, the Goddess of Death every day as they navigate the absurdities of Western Yoga culture. Liberation, not Lululemon!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>The Outstanding Youth Performance was won by the show \u201cLandscape of the Other Shore\u201d from Shenzhen University \u00a0which was also inspired by another European classic: G\u00e9ricault\u2019s painting and Georg Kaiser\u2019s play The Raft of the Medusa.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">The Asian Arts Special Award was shared between GENDAI TOKYO \u00a0and Up-cycle Music \u00a0by Creative Art of Korea. GENDAI TOKYO had a simply incredible laser show playing at WU Asia Pacific three times per night. Everyone who sees it simply loves it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Up-cycle Music is a \u201cresponse to climate change from a uniquely artistic perspective. They use waste to make music \u2013 cellos from abandoned equipment from rural areas, stringed instruments of thrown away plastic toys \u2013 and compose piano songs based on the characteristics of endangered animals, to ask vital questions about the climate crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Lyndsey Jackson from the Fringe presented the awards along with Richard Lewis and Chelsea Zhou of Asian Art Fund Scotland, the charity which runs the Asian Art Awards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Winners \u2013 2025 Asian Art Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nen.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hahaha-hamlet.jpg?ssl=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"250\" height=\"250\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/hahaha-hamlet.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-212164\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Outstanding Show<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Winner: Hahaha\u2013Hamlet \u2013\u00a0Chai Wan Rabble (Hong Kong)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: 1Shoulder\u00a0Pad: Galaxy Train, Japanese Musical Theatre (Japan)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Practice of Zen \u2013 Theatre Ronin (Hong Kong)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Outstanding Production<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Winner: Kanpur: 1857 \u2013\u00a0Niall Moorjani Storyteller and Pleasance (Scotland \/ India)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: 1457, The Boy at Rest \u2013\u00a0Poem and Star \/ Korean Season by GCC &amp; AtoBiz (Korea)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Relaxing and Balancing \u2013 Ying Yang \u2013\u00a0On\/Off Theatre (Hong Kong)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: The Time Painter \u2013\u00a0ACC, ACCF, Haddangse \/ Korean Season by GCC and AtoBiz (Korea)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Outstanding Male Performer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Winner: Jeremy Rafal,\u00a0The Boy from Bantay (Philippines \/ USA)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Zheng Xiaofan Dance Theatre,\u00a0PERSONALLERY 4.0 (China)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Kumar Muniandy \u2013\u00a0Second Class Queer (Malaysia \/ UK \/ Germany)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Eden Choi \u2013 Proust Effect (Korea)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mail.google.com\/mail\/u\/0\/#m_-3606026604831558314__ftn1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">[1]<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Sanjay Lago \u2013 Love me Like a Chai Tea Latte\u00a0(Scotland \/ India)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Outstanding Female Performer<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Winner: Mayuri Bhandari \u2013\u00a0The Anti \u201cYogi\u201d (USA \/ India)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Dansa Rickshaw \u2013 Dance Ihayami (Scotland \/ India)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Elisabeth Gunawan and KISS WITNESS\u00a0\u2013 Stampin\u2019 in the Graveyard (UK \/ Indonesia)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Afreena Islam-Wright \u2013\u00a0Lucky Tonight! (UK \/ Bangladesh)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Chi-An Chen \u2013 Sole to Soul (Taiwan, China)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Outstanding Young Performer [Winner] 3<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Winner: Shenzhen University School of Arts 201 Theatre Company \u2013 The Landscape of the Other Shore (China)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Creative Group SSAK \/ Korean Season by GCC &amp; AtoBiz \u2013 Dream Space (Korea)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Highly Commended: Jasmine Thien \u2013 I Dream in Colour (UK \/ China)<\/p>\n<p class=\"\"><strong>Asian Arts Special Award \u2013\u00a0Joint Award\u00a0(two winners)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"\">GENDAI TOKYO (Japan)\u00a0and<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Up-cycle Music, Creative Art (Korea)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Asian Art Awards \u2013 Award Ceremony at MOXY Fountainbridge Members of the Scottish Indian community were prominent among&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":323012,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8816],"tags":[748,1102,4884,712,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-383181","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-edinburgh","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-scotland","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115113626463530150","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383181"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383181\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/323012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}