Appetite
New Vic Theatre
Etruria Rd,
Newcastle-under-Lyme,
Staffordshire ST5 0JG
Programme Funders
Consortium
What is Sensasian?
Sensasian is a celebration of art and culture that draws inspiration from, and created in consultation with, the South Asian and wider community in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme.
It is a partnership between Appetite and our lead organisation, New Vic, who share our commitment to present a high quality, co-created programme of South Asian artists to be presented at the theatre.
More than just an event …
One of Appetite’s core purposes is to reach out to diverse sections of the community where we live and invite them to experience arts and culture in exciting new ways. As we made relationships with members and leaders of the local South Asian community, we discovered that there was a demand for more local artists to have a platform within Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme. Many emphasised that they would need to travel to other cities to engage in South Asian arts events or programmes, and there was a clear call to have more representation of, and access to, the various art forms and cultures within the region closer to home.
The Journey to Sensasian
The journey to Sensasian began back in 2017 with a project called Settling by photographic artist Sam Ivin. Ivin did a three-month residency with Appetite and GRAIN to create a display around migration into the area as part of The Big Feast that year.
Relationships made during Settling led to Punjab to the Potteries in 2022 – a project recording the stories of those whose personal or family stories include moving from the Punjab region of India and Pakistan to work in the potbanks of ‘The Potteries’. This culminated with the commission of two new short plays – by Shahid Iqbal Khan and Sarah Bedi – based on those stories, which had a reading at the New Vic.
As interest in the programme grew, so did the desire to reflect the wider South Asian diaspora. In 2023 Sensasian evolved as the next natural progression, celebrating South Asian arts and culture.
How does Sensasian get made?
For 2025 the programme has been shaped by a growing number of community decision-makers, in particular from the local South Asian community, but also including people who have an interest in South Asian arts and culture.
The group met over a few months attending community creative consultations at the New Vic Theatre. They reviewed a menu of over 30 performers across Comedy, Dance, Music, Family, Theatre and Film, voting and discussing their favourites. The group were also asked for thoughts on marketing and the overall design of the event. All the comments, thoughts and votes coming from the decision makers have been used to shape the diverse range of performances and activities for the Sensasian 2025 programme.
Sensasian 2025 was amazing!
We will have updates featuring brilliant images from across Sensasian 2025 coming soon. In the meantime, head over to the Sensasian 25 event page to see what was on the menu this year.
Sensasian 2024
2024’s debut Sensasian event was brilliantly received! Across three evening shows and a family fun day, we saw so many new visitors as well as those who regularly attend the theatre or Appetite events. It was an absolute pleasure to welcome people of all ages and backgrounds to this exciting event. And what an event it was!
The evening shows fulfilled the wishes of the decision-makers who wanted to see a broad array of artforms on offer:
- dance in the form of ROSHNI by Sonia Sabri Company
- comedy from Desi Central featuring Sukh Ojla, Nabil Abdulrasheed, Tommy Sandhu, and Raj Poojara
- and mesmerising magic in the form of Jadoo by world-renowned, multi-award-winning magician and west-end star Ben Hart
Take a look at these photos from Sensasian 2024 by Malcolm Hart and Jenny Harper – or go to the Sensasian 2024 event page – to whet your Appetite for this year’s event.
Sensasian 2024 was part-funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
