King of Ghosts

King of Ghosts played in our Festival of Independence that celebrated the 70th anniversary of India’s sovereignty in 2017. Curated by playwright Tanika Gupta, the Globe brought together theatre, music, film, and stand-up in a grand mosaic of perspectives orbiting around Great Britain’s complex relationship to India, while celebrating a vast range of astonishing British and British-Indian talents.

Soumik’s cine-concert, King of Ghosts, played over the two hottest nights of our summer festival in the candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.

The first half featured an astonishing duet recital between Soumik and Talvin Singh, widely regarded as the father of the Asian Underground movement and a venerated tabla virtuoso. Their rhapsodic conversation gripped the room in an awed silence, showing the glory and incandescence of Indian classical music in the unique context of the Playhouse’s house concert feel.

In the second half, Soumik, percussionist Cormac Byrne, the City of London Sinfonia and the Globe's Director of Music, Bill Barclay, took the stage to perform a score for Satyajit Ray’s 1969 black and white masterpiece, shown on the back wall amidst the flickering candlelight. Composed by Johannes Berauer, Cormac Byrne and Soumik Datta, this intensely charismatic music, part Indian classical music, part modern film score, part Hindustani dance, charmed and wowed our room in ways few programmes have. We hope you enjoy it.

Recorded in the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse at Shakespeare's Globe.

Soumik Datta is a dear friend and incredible musician. I was so pleased he could be a part of my Globe series, and I've been thrilled to watch his relationship with the Globe develop as it has!
- Anoushka Shankar