• Increase the volume, visibility, and diversity of South Asian-led work across NTS’s programme.

• Encourage wider participation of South Asian creatives in the programming and commissioning ecosystem.

• Ensure South Asian perspectives are engaged in artistic decision-making to provide appropriate dramaturgy and guidance for South Asian artists, to positively inform their work, our working culture, and development processes.

• Create equitable, accessible pathways for South Asian artists at all career stages to develop and showcase their work.

• Enable South Asian creatives to have a voice in the shaping of artist development opportunities.

• Build a collaborative, transparent network of organisations committed to sustained support for South Asian artists.

• Increase access to, representation and participation of South Asian audiences across all NTS public-facing activity.

• Strengthen relationships with South Asian communities and ensure artistic activity is rooted in meaningful connection.

• Empower South Asian young people to see a future in the arts through sustained creative career initiatives.

• Action 1: Continue to seek, commission and develop new work led by South Asian artists. Aim to begin producing these works from 2027.

• Action 2: Pay a team of South Asian Creatives to support us to research and explore the South Asian play canon, to identify existing work that speaks to Scotland's South Asian audiences in a new production.

• Action 3: Ensure South Asian perspectives inform artistic decision-making about South Asian led works in development, or under consideration, through the attachment of paid South Asian artist consultants.

• Action 1: Develop a South Asian writer development programme, in partnership with sector peers, developing new plays towards short term, small scale production opportunities on non-NTS platforms, including a rehearsed reading stage presented within a relevant community setting.

• Action 2: Support members of the South Asian creative community to develop a self-led scratch programme, offering financial support, advice on producing models, and identifying performance platforms through our peer network.

• Action 3: Bring together sector peers, initially in Glasgow, to encourage the development of opportunities for South Asian creatives and long-term projects/collaboration.

• Action 1: Create engagement opportunities around the South Asian led projects the Company has commissioned and are developing to build visibility for the work, and establish our commitment to developing work for South Asian audiences with those communities.

• Action 2: Use the results of a research project identifying Glasgow based community organisations to establish new partnerships and opportunities to connect with potential South Asian audiences.

• Action 3: Work with South Asian community partners and advisors to identify new groups of South Asian young people to engage with our Creative Careers programme, encouraging young people to consider a future in the arts.

In 2024/25 we began development journeys with a number of new live theatre projects including a reimagining of a Shakespeare classic by Joeravar Sangha and Taqi Nazeer and a new musical conceived by Shilpa T Hyndland. These ideas were identified from an open call for large scale work in 2023, for which we received 58 expressions of interest and took 11 ideas to round two. The ideas were selected by a panel made up of two members of our Advisory Panel, three members of staff and an external producer consultant, working with Tamasha Theatre Company. One of these projects also created an opportunity for a South Asian creative to take on a trainee theatre dramaturgy role.

We have also recently committed to supporting the initial exploration phase of a new project, co-led by Adam Buksh and MJ Deans, identified through a call out from our Discover Residency (Writers) and have commissioned a treatment from author Manjeet Mann for a new piece of gig theatre.

While we continue to develop new works behind the scenes, in 2024 we programmed two works by leading South Asian artists as part of our 2025 programme, through our ‘in association’ partnership model. This model shares our resource and platforms with a range of companies presenting new work: Lear by Ramesh Meyyappan produced by Raw Material commissioned by Singapore International Festival Of Arts and Black Hole Sign by Uma Nada Rajah (writer of our 2022 production Exodus), co-produced by the Tron Theatre Company and Traverse Theatre Company.

We completed filming and editing of a new digital short film Kinaara by Kal Sabir, selected through an open call from 19 applications selected by a panel made up of three staff members, a Scottish South Asian Executive Film Producer, a Scottish South Asian film maker and a Scottish South Asian actor. We are in the process of submitting this to film festivals for consideration. A private screening for the cast, crew and industry took place at the GFT in May. Kal also spoke about the experience of making the film, its themes and process at the 2025 Glasgow Mela. Throughout the production of Kinaara, several South Asian creatives were involved, including an Executive Producer and Co-Producer, the film’s Editor and various members of the crew.

We commissioned three South Asian artists to curate and run a networking day for South Asian Creatives, allowing them to design a day of activities and discussions that they felt was most useful to the community. This event was attended by 44 Scottish South Asian creatives. This event has led to the independent creation of a monthly newsletter and regular networking meetings hosted by some of the attendees. To sign up to, or provide content to that newsletter, email scottishsouthasians@gmail.com

We offered a group of 14-17 year olds from South Asian communities in Glasgow the opportunity to take part in a version of Creative Careers combined with First Nights as a pilot project. Young people attended Rockvilla to hear about careers in theatre, met some key members of the NTS team and then had a tour of the building. They then attended a performance of Thank U, Nextat Cumbernauld Theatre. We received an enthusiastic response from the young people, and it is a model that we are considering repeating in the future with further refinement.

We have also recently commissioned a South Asian researcher to identify key Glasgow community organisations with shared values and ambitions around culture, for potential partnerships on activities.

In March 2025, we recruited three new Artistic Fellows, to work with us over 18 months to support our ongoing exploration of cultural democracy and to develop new artist development activities informed by their lived and creative experience. We are delighted that our Producing Fellow, Leah Byrne, who is of South Asian Heritage, will support us to develop and deliver our South Asian Project commitments during their tenure.