A Tamil teenager is preparing for their period party – a traditional ritual meant to mark womanhood. But Krish isn’t a girl. And this ‘celebration’ feels more like the opening act of a never-ending performance. As expectations mount, Krish decides to take control. With help from their best friend Brenavee and a growing chosen family, Krish flips the script to throw the degendered party of their dreams.

Set in 2010, in the aftermath of genocide, Period Parrrty is an ode to Tamil survival and self-determination. This is no ordinary coming-of-age story. This is a trans Tamil party. And you’re invited.

Initially developed in a Soho Lab, Kali Theatre first presented Period Parrrty as a short play in our Discovery Programme at Hampstead Theatre where it won the audience vote. It was then presented as a script-in-hand performance in our International Plays Festival.

“A few years ago a friend asked me how I felt about period parties. At the time, this ‘puberty ceremony’ felt like a patriarchal ritual, a signal to our community that this person was a functioning ‘woman’ who would eventually become a bride and a mother. Then my friend asked me what queering a period party might look like. I’d never imagined that before. And that curiosity is what sparked this play. Period Parrrty is a trans, Tamil play. It’s about self-determination, young love and a parent and child really seeing each other for the first time. It’s also about the ritual of coming together and building community in the aftermath of genocide – something which will always shape my family and stories. It is about the lightness we have to hold onto in order to survive.”
Gayathiri Kamalakanthan

Krish                               Elizabeth Green
Brenavee                        Tanvi Virmani
Brintha                           Rani Moorthy

Director                       Gitika Buttoo
Writer                         Gayathiri Kamalakanthan
Movement Director      Sundeep Saini
Designer                         Katie Scott
Sound Designer
& Composer                Niroshini Thambar
Lighting Designer         Jahmiko Marshal
Casting Director            Olivia Barr

Gayathiri Kamalakanthan  Writer

Gayathiri Kamalakanthan is a Tamil writer and producer. Gayathiri is a recipient of the Disabled Poets Prize, the Faber & Andlyn Publisher’s Prize and the RSL Literature Matters Award. Their debut novel-in-verse, Bad Queer, is forthcoming with Faber.  gayathiri.co.uk | @unembarrassable. 

Gitika Buttoo  Director

Gitika is a Queer British South Asian Director from Yorkshire, currently based in Manchester. She directs theatre, film and radio nationally and has just finished wrapped on her film ‘Before I Do’ that was commissioned by the British Film Institute and was selected by BFI Flare Film Festival (The largest LGBTQ+ Film Festival in Europe) amongst others and will be screened at BFI Southbank in London 2025.

She has recently been a resident Staff Director at The National Theatre and been appointed Regional Associate, of Tamasha and Associate Director of LUNG Theatre Company. Gitika was picked to be one of Headlong Theatre’s Origins Directors and has won Best Online Audio Production at the Off West End Awards and her work on Tanika Gupta’s play, Love N Stuff was nominated for Best Stage Production at the Asian Media Awards .

Her most recent Theatre Credits: Tell Me How It Ends by Tasha Dowd (Liverpool Everyman Theatres); The Borrowers (The Dukes Theatre, Lancaster);  The Tempest (Storyhouse, Chester); Common Ground (Mikron Theatre, UK Tour); ROAD and Love N Stuff (Oldham Coliseum); The Father & The Assassin (National Theatre); The Jungle Book (Storyhouse, Chester). Disproportionately Affected (Tara Theatre); The Jungle Book (Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre); Runaway (Young Vic Theatre); Northern Girls (Pilot Theatre); Trojan Horse (UK tour); Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Birmingham Opera Company); Beyond Shame (Derby Theatre) Radio credits: Baby Mama by Stephanie Reynolds and Queens by Erinn Dhesi (Tamasha & Holy Mountain Productions).Film Credits: Before I Do by Afshan D’Souza Lodhi (BFI, Polari and Out of the Common Productions)

Wed 29 Oct DJ in the bar after performance of Period Parrrty  8-11pm

Sat 1 Nov 3.45pm Screening of short film, Ratthum (Blood)

Shanti finds blood in her underwear at the worst possible time. Against the backdrop of a Tamil coming-of-age ceremony where fertility is celebrated, menstruation is shunned and infertility is silenced, Shanti struggles to keep a secret.  @littlestitchproductions

Followed by a Q&A with the Ratthum team and Period Parrrty writer Gayathiri Kamalakanthan.

Free to matinee ticket holders.

6 Nov 17.00-18.00 Free Writing Workshop run by Period Parrrty writer Gayathiri Kamalakanthan

Email info@kalitheatre.co.uk to reserve a place   

Free to Period Parrrrty ticket holders.

Sat 8 Nov matinee Post Show Discussion with the cast & writer Gayathiri Kamalakanthan

Sat 15 Nov 3.45pm Poetry/Spoken Word +Open Mic

Join the Period Parrrty team for poetry & words from Jasmine Cooray, Jay Mitra and Sheerah Ravindren, hosted by Gayathiri Kamalakanthan. This will include an open mic session. 3mins per performer. Names will be picked out of a hat on the day!

Free to matinee ticket holders.