Leesa Gazi

Leesa Gazi (Bengali: লিসা গাজী; born 14 August 1969)[1] is a Bangladeshi-born British writer, playwright, theatre director and actress based in London.

Leesa Gazi
লিসা গাজী
Born (1969-08-14) 14 August 1969
East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
NationalityBritish
OccupationWriter, playwright, theatre director, actress, television presenter
Years active2008–present
TitleCo-founder of Komola Collective
Children2

Background

Gazi's father fought during the Bangladesh Liberation War.[1]

Career

Gazi is the co-founder of theatre and arts company, Komola Collective.[2] She was the script-writer and performer of Six Seasons and Tahmima Anam's A Golden Age at the Southbank Centre. Her theatrical credits include:[3] Birangona: Women of War,[4] Sonata, Rokey's Dream, Demon's Revenge, Ponderful People, and Bonbibi. She also wrote the script for Bonbibi: Lady of the Forest in 2012.[3] She performed in People's Romeo,[5] which had an eight-week nationwide tour with Tara Arts.[3] Sonata, adapted and performed by Gazi, was invited to Bangladesh in 2010 by the British Council.[6] She performed in a serialised adaptation of A Golden Age. She worked as the cultural coordinator and as a voice artist for Akram Khan's Desh.[3]

In 2012, she worked as a script interpreter Globe to Globe Festival at the Globe Theatre on The Tempest. She acted on a play about domestic violence called Whisper Me Happy Ever After. She works for Train4change as an actor as well, and worked on a project with them on a film for the charity WaterAid. Between May and August 2014, she worked as an actor in a series of BBC Educational Films.[3]

Gazi hosts Aei Jonopode, a weekly live-phone-in show on Bangla TV. In 2010, her first novel Rourob was published.[3]

Gazi was awarded the Grants for the Arts by the ACE for the Birangona: Women of War theatre project by Komola Collective. She is the concept developer, co-writer and the performer of this theatre production.[3][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]

In May 2014, Gazi was interviewed by Nadia Ali on BBC Asian Network.[15]

Personal life

Gazi and her husband, have two children; one born 2004 (named Sreya), the other 2006 (named Rishi).

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2009 Life Goes On
2019 Rising Silence Director Gazi's directorial debut.

Stage
Year Title Credit Theatre
2008–2010 Sonata Tara Arts
2010 Rokeya's Dream
Ponderful People Face Front
2010 Bonbibi Culturepot Global
2012 Bonbibi: Lady of the Forest
2015 Birangona: Women of War Tara Arts

See also

References
  1. Bhuchar, Suman (9 May 2014). "Actor Leesa Gazi on Birangona: Women of War, stories of female survivors". Theatre Voice. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  2. "Arts & Culture". British Bangladeshi Power & Inspiration. January 2015. Archived from the original on 31 January 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  3. "Leesa Gazi". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  4. Dey, Saurav (19 December 2014). "Komola Collective stages Birangona: Women of War". The Daily Star. Bangladesh. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  5. Vale, Paul (13 September 2010). "People's Romeo". The Stage. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  6. "A "Sonata" for Dhaka". The Daily Star. Bangladesh. 4 January 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
  7. Dey, Saurav (28 August 2013). "Bringing Forth Unsung Tales of Birangonas". The Daily Star. Bangladesh. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  8. Nadiya, Shabnam (13 September 2013). "Birangona". Bdnews24.com. Bangladesh. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  9. Sinha, Kounteya (25 March 2014). "Play in UK tells of Bengali women raped by Pakistani army during 1971 war". The Times of India. India. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  10. Gazi, Leesa (31 March 2014). "Birangona: Will the World Listen?". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  11. Anam, Tahmina (15 April 2014). "Bangladesh's Birangona women: 'Tell the world our story'". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  12. Dey, Saurav (30 April 2014). "Bringing Forth Unsung Tales of Birangonas". Birmingham Mail. Birmingham. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  13. "Komola Collective stages a series of shows of Birangona". New Age. Bangladesh. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  14. Chatak, Hasan Mansoor (21 December 2014). "Komla Collective pays tribute to Birangonas". Dhaka Tribune. Dhaka. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
  15. "Leesa Gazi talks to the writer behind the latest Brit Bangla play – Birangona". BBC Asian Network. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
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