An interdisciplinary mixed-media performance to Fringe 2026, blending South Asian classical-contemporary dance, interactive projection, and spoken word. Created in collaboration with University of Edinburgh researchers, this layered adaptation transforms the space into an interactive exhibition and live performance that explores gender, power, and transnational intersectional feminism.
Would you mind giving us an insight into what your show/event/performance is?
Maiden | Mother | Whore is an interdisciplinary dance-theatre work that blends South Asian classical and contemporary dance, spoken word, interactive projection and live audience encounter. It explores the ways women are shaped by social structures, institutions and expectations, asking who gets to define our identities and whose stories are heard.
The work has grown over several years through an ongoing collaboration between Theiyā Arts and academics from the Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society at the University of Edinburgh. Rather than presenting a single answer, it invites audiences into a shared space for reflection, conversation and questioning. This Fringe production is a new theatre adaptation of the project, bringing together the different strands of the work in a more intimate live experience.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
The work has been created collectively by the five artists who make up Theiyā Arts Dance Collective, alongside composer Giulia Drummond, projection artist Robert Motyka, lighting designer Pete Searle, set designers Aqsa Arif and Nazia Mohammed, stage manager Sanath Kumar, and our academic collaborators Dr Agomoni Ganguli-Mitra and Dr Ingrid Young from the Centre for Biomedicine, Self and Society at the University of Edinburgh.
The collaboration with CBSS wasn’t about academics handing artists research to translate into performance. It was a genuinely shared process of asking questions together. Through reading groups, conversations and workshops, we explored themes of gender, the body, identity, health, social expectations and resistance. The process challenged all of us to think differently about what arts-based research can be, and what becomes possible when artistic practice and academic enquiry genuinely inform one another.
Throughout the development of Maiden | Mother | Whore, we kept returning to questions rather than easy answers: how do institutions shape our bodies and lives? How do we imagine different futures? What role can art play in a world marked by inequality and conflict? Those conversations became as important as the final performance itself, creating a space where lived experience, movement, scholarship and collective reflection could sit alongside one another.
Because the work has evolved over several years, the process has been intentionally iterative. Ideas have been tested through performances, exhibitions, discussions and public events, with each stage feeding back into the next. That openness to dialogue and continual reimagining is at the heart of how we make work at Theiyā Arts.
How does it feel coming to (back to) the Fringe?
Bringing Maiden | Mother | Whore to the Edinburgh Fringe feels like an important moment for the project. The work has evolved through exhibitions, performances, conversations and research over several years, and this is the first time those different strands are coming together as a dedicated theatre production.
As a Scotland-based South Asian arts organisation, it’s also an opportunity to share work that reflects the complexity of our communities and to contribute to the breadth of stories being told at the Fringe. We’re excited to invite new audiences into the conversation and to see what questions they bring with them.
With shows from all over the world at the Fringe, what sets yours apart?
The show sits somewhere between dance, theatre, installation and live encounter. Rather than asking audiences to sit back and observe, it invites them into an experience where movement, text, projection and conversation all work together.
It’s also unusual because of the way it has been developed. The work has grown through an ongoing collaboration between artists and researchers, with each informing the other throughout the creative process. That means the ideas emerge through embodied practice as much as through research, resulting in a piece that values complexity over certainty and leaves space for audiences to form their own interpretations.
On that, is there anything in the production or production team’s backgrounds which influences the way the show is performed or told?
Absolutely. The work is grounded in a transnational intersectional feminist approach, which means we recognise that our experiences are shaped by multiple, intersecting identities and the different social, cultural and political contexts we move through. As a collective, we each bring our own lived experiences, artistic practices and perspectives, and those differences are an important part of the creative process rather than something we try to smooth over.
Our backgrounds influence everything from how we choreograph movement to how we approach collaboration, storytelling and audience engagement. We draw on South Asian dance practices while continually questioning and reimagining them in relation to contemporary experiences. Working alongside researchers has also encouraged us to examine how power operates through institutions, health systems and social expectations, and to think carefully about whose knowledge is valued.
Rather than presenting a singular perspective, the production embraces multiple voices and ways of knowing. That collaborative process shapes not only the story we tell, but how we tell it and how we invite audiences into dialogue with it.
Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?
We don’t want audiences to leave feeling that they’ve been given an answer. We hope they leave with new questions about the ways gender, power and institutions shape our lives, and with a greater curiosity about experiences beyond their own.
Ultimately, we hope people leave feeling they’ve shared something together. Whether they recognise themselves in the work or encounter perspectives that are unfamiliar, we want the performance to create space for reflection, conversation and empathy long after they’ve left the theatre.
Your Ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t…?
Anyone who’s ever questioned the roles they’ve been expected to play or felt constrained by society’s expectations will find something to connect with. While the work centres women’s embodied experiences, it’s really about systems of power that affect us all in different ways.
We hope it resonates with people interested in dance, theatre and visual art, as well as those curious about feminism, health, social justice and contemporary South Asian artistic practice. But equally, you don’t need any prior knowledge of those subjects. If you’re open to engaging with a work that asks questions rather than offering simple conclusions, then this piece is for you.
It’s an intense month, so where you’re able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
Food is usually the starting point. Our team loves discovering new places to eat together, and those moments away from the rehearsal room or theatre are often where we reconnect and decompress.
We’ll also try to catch as much work by other artists as we can. The Fringe is such a rare opportunity to experience an incredible range of performances in one city, and seeing what other people are making is always inspiring. We’re particularly looking forward to Boys Don’t Dance by Marc Brew Company and Kanpur: 1857 by Niall Moorjani in association with Jasmine Cole Productions.
Beyond that, it’s about finding small moments to slow down, have a coffee, go for a walk, or simply spend time together outside of making the show
Maiden | Mother | Whore runs at Venue 22a, DB1 at Assembly @ Dance Base
Runs: 18th -30th August at 17:30pm
Interested in being featured on our Have a Gander page? With many previews and Q&As lined up, we’re always happy to chat about including your show in future articles. Please do get in touch through the contact page to feature in an upcoming ‘Have A Gander’