An Indian man, accused of rebellion against the ruling British forces in Kanpur, is strapped to a cannon as punishment. Reflecting on the events that led him there, he’s interrupted by a British officer who gives him the chance to tell his story. If the officer likes it enough, the man will escape being blasted to smithereens. The stakes could not be higher.

‘Kanpur:1857’ tells of a shameful episode in colonial history. Violent clashes between Indian soldiers and their British commanders spread across North India for a couple of years until the so-called rebellion was suppressed. A particularly violent episode in Kanpur saw the wives and children of the local British army, brutally murdered. But while thousands of British people died during the clashes, hundreds of thousands of Indians were killed.

Writer and performer Niall Moorjani takes this period of history as a starting point for his fictional account of a single man facing the same grisly fate doled out to so many ‘rebels’ during the conflict. Moorjani is the rebel, facing his accuser with weary resignation and a quiet grace. Jonathan Oldfield is as blindly oblivious to his entitlement as you’d expect from a member of the ruling classes. Even his moments of apparent compassion are revealed to be barely skin deep. Woven in amongst the power play is a queer love story, a kingfisher-bright beacon of hope and tenderness amidst the brutal colonial context.

The construct of the script extravagantly exploits the awful tension that exists between ruler and ruled when only one party in that relationship has any power – sometimes, to comedic effect. The storytelling is accompanied by a live soundtrack from Scottish-Indian tabla player Sodhi which nicely underscores the tension. Ultimately, the lengthy monologues and extensive backstory leave this feeling more like well and wittily constructed storytelling than theatre. But there’s no doubt that, in this violent world we live in, this story needs to be heard.

‘Kanpur: 1857‘ is at Pleasance Courtyard – Beneath until Mon 25 Aug 2025 at 15:40