‘Creating unique and Colourful performance that celebrate the lives of queer people of colour in the UK’
New show to premier at Bradford Arts Centre
Khandan (family) The Shame Generation
Every sip of tea takes you somewhere new… Sid Akbar’s solo show travels through time, memory and belonging — drawn from his own experience of growing up queer in a Pakistani Muslim family in Bradford. From fear in his Mum’s cosy kitchen to hope in a sparse Manchester bedsit, join Captain Sid’s continuing* voyage of self-discovery. “The Shame Generation” explores family duty, clouds of shame, queer spaces that feel like home and the complicated truth that chosen family can hurt you too.
A sequel to the acclaimed Besharam (Shame Less) — and completely its own thing.
Funny, tender and bracingly honest, this is a story of love.
A queer South Asian story. A Bradford story. Honestly, a bit of everyone’s story.
Age recommendation – 15+.
Dhamaka Arts is a queer-led theatre company founded in 2023 by Bradford-born actor, writer and theatre maker Sid Akbar
The company was created from a desire to tell the kinds of stories that were missing growing up, stories that reflected QTIPOC experiences and the realities of being queer, brown, intersectional and raised within a Pakistani Muslim community in the North of England.
Dhamaka Arts creates bold, funny, heartfelt and culturally honest theatre centred around unheard, hidden and underrepresented stories, particularly from queer communities of colour. Rooted in lived experience, the work blends personal storytelling with imagination, humour, campness and theatrical worldbuilding to create spaces where audiences can see themselves reflected with complexity, care and authenticity.
At the centre of Dhamaka Arts is a commitment to creating safer and more supportive ways of making work. The company believes creativity flourishes when people feel respected, heard and valued. Care, consent, collaboration and wellbeing are embedded throughout the creative process, particularly for queer people of colour, neurodiverse artists and those whose voices have historically been excluded from mainstream theatre spaces.
Since launching in 2023 with the acclaimed solo show Besharam (Shame Less), Dhamaka Arts has continued developing new theatre that celebrates intersectional queer South Asian stories while challenging shame, silence and expectation. The company is committed to creating work that sparks conversation, builds connection and reminds audiences that they are not alone.
Dhamaka Arts exists to make space.
For honesty.
For healing.
For laughter.
For complexity.
For queer futures.
And for the stories still waiting to be told.