Chai with Rai

Had such a wonderful time discussing community and opportunity as freelance writers in the industry with the wonderful Gayathiri Kamalakanthan. And of course we discussed the writing process for the audio story "Chemo in the Summer". 

About Gayathiri:

Gayathiri is a Tamil poet and sex education facilitator. They’re interested in how language shapes childhood and how we use it to queer the future. Gayathiri won the Faber & Andly...

I have to say and say it I will! If you are a writer! You must and you must listen to structure and how just telling this conversation is especially if you are an emerging writer. So many great antidotes to take and implement into your world. 

Sitting down with the stunning Bethany Gemmell to discuss writing and how a world is created and how "Catherine" was made for Symphonies of Beaded Threads . 

About Bethany: 

Bethany Henry Gem...

The incredible soul that is Yasmine Dankwah sat down and discussed her process of storytelling, YouTube rabbit holes and of course Spoken word vs poetry. 

Here is the link to Yasmine's short story titled "An Epic: as told by my grandma’s photo album " for Symphonies of Beaded Threads 

About Yasmine: 

Yasmine Dankwah is a British-Ghanaian spoken word artist and writer based in South London. She is interested in exploring how resista...

Finally and I mean Finally managed to get Carmina Bernhardt for an intevrview. Carrying on with the series we grabbed a cuppa and discussed the inspiration behind Carmina's piece "Brainfreeze" from the audio series "Symphonies of Beaded Threads" and her love of cats and more!

About Carmina:

Carmina Bernhardt is a Vancouver-born and London-based actor, writer, director, script reader, and coach for stage and screen. Graduated with D...

Carrying on with the interview series with the writers from "Symphonies of Beaded Threads" diving into the mind of Afriya- Jasmine Nylander. who wrote the short story titled "Professional Daydreamer".  

About Afriya:

Afriya-Jasmine Nylander is a Writer, Actor and Producer based in West London. She studied Theatre at the Brit School where she performed Shakespeare at Stratford-Upon-Avon, was chosen for the NSDF Festival 2021, and wa...

Excited to be releasing an interview series with the the writers from the short audio storytelling series on Chai with Rai "Symphonies of Beaded Threads". Let's warm up that delicious cuppa and dive into it with Soria Hamidi who wrote "Take my Picture" 

About Soria:

Soria Hamidi is an Afghan playwright, prose fiction writer and dramaturg. Her work focuses on silenced histories, communities and people by exploring the stories throug...

Getting into more deep chatter and games with the one and only Vidya Patel. Enjoy part 2 and you can also now listen to Part 1 HERE. 

In the episode we discuss:

• Culture of Dance commissioning. 
• A tip on being financial savvy.
• A tip on funding, application how to get things done . 
• A tip on dance artists transitioning into facilitation or choreographing or movement direction?
• 3 things the dance culture be it South Asian led or o...

This is going to be a two-parted episode BECAUSE I just had to dive into this brilliant human's mind.

Got to speak with the incredible Choreographer, Movement artist and wonderful human that is Vidya Patel. From connecting on Gujarati sayings to discussing decoding Classical Indian dance, it's access, Uday Shankar and so much more! This is a jam packed one. 

In the episode we discuss:

• Creation exploration? What is it you look f...

Part 2 aka the final part with actor Tibu Fortes.

From discussing reverence of Shakespeare to co-op's ( not the retail store). 

In the episode we discuss:

• Co-Op's - 3 tools you learnt from on being on the agency side and now to switching to a complete overall management. 
• Lessons you have learnt from the craft about yourself and the craft?
• If you could go back to any role/ project- what would you add/ change to it now with your...

Finally managed to sit down with the incredible mind that is Tibu Fortes.

Warm up your cuppas as we dive into a 2-parted episode with the actor discussing his morning routines, acting tools/tricks and playing Martin Bashir in his recent work at The Park Theatre. 

In the episode we discuss:

• Since this is Tibu's first ever interview in podcasting I had to ask- How was Drama Centre London and NYT? Their start into acting? What got...

This is PART 2 (Final part of the 100 episode Celebration) 

Massive Thank you to all the guests Two Chickpeas in a Podcast, Zoha Rahman ,  Jay Jay Revlon, Sanjay Lago and Meghna Bhalla.

HERE is the link to the Instagram unfiltered LIVE!

To subscribe to Patreon and become a Patron/ supporter of Chai with Rai. 

Social:

Myself: https://www.instagram.com/chaiwithrai_/ & https://twitter.com/chaiwithrai_ & https://www.tiktok.com/...

Celebrating 100 Episodes of Chai with Rai with a very special episode co-hosted with Two Chickpeas in a Podcast, Zoha Rahman and featuring special guests Jay Jay Revlon, Sanjay Lago and Meghna Bhalla.

Now this is part 1 of part 2 so keep an eye out for Part 2!

And as we celebrate 100 episodes- HERE is the link for the Giveaways!

HERE is the link to the Instagram unfiltered LIVE!

To subscribe to Patreon and become a Patron/ supporte...

This is the last story from our storytelling series Symphonies of beaded threads. I have loved working on this project, bringing you something more than just an interview or a chat on the podcast and also just flexing that producing/ directing skill in the audio world. I have also appreciated your messages, you sharing each episode, tagging chai with rai and the artists involved. Now If you haven’t done so make sure to check out th...

Continuing on with the series Symphonies of Beaded Threads and releasing an episode daily. This is the seventh episode/ story titled "Professional Daydreamer" written and voiced by Afriya-Jasmine Nylander. 

• The Transcript of the piece can be found HERE.  

• If you would like to Donate to this project and a live event which I will be holding soon for the public in a very...

Today's melodic story from the series Symphonies of Beaded Threads is by Riana Howarth and is called "She'd Sit". 

• The Transcript of the piece can be found HERE.  

• If you would like to Donate to this project and a live event which I will be holding soon for the public in a very well known space in Central London CLICK HERE. 

About Riana:

Riana is an aspiring wr...

We are in the second half of the storytelling series Symphonies of Beaded Threads and today's story is called "Take My Picture" by Soria Hamidi and voiced by Leila McQuaid .

• The Transcript of the piece can be found HERE.  

• If you would like to Donate to this project and a live event which I will be holding soon for the public in a very well known space in Central Lond...

Halfway there and today’s story from the series Symphonies of Beaded of Threads is titled "38%" by Ra’eesah.

• The Transcript of the piece can be found HERE.  

• If you would like to Donate to this project and a live event which I will be holding soon for the public in a very well known space in Central London CLICK HERE. 

About Ra'eesah: 

Happy Third Day!

Today's story from the series Symphonies of Beaded Threads is by Bethany Gemmell and is called "Catherine". Fun fact: it actually features Bethany's mum Catherine. 

• The Transcript of the piece can be found HERE.  
• If you would like to Donate to this project and a live event which I will be holding soon for the public in a very well known space in Central London CLICK HERE. 

About Bethany: 

Bethany Henry G...

Continuing on with the series Symphonies of Beaded Threads and releasing an episode daily. This is the second episode titled "An Epic: as told by my grandma’s photo album" written and performed by Yasmine Dankwah. 

About Yasmine: 

Yasmine Dankwah is a British-Ghanaian spoken word artist and writer based in South London. She is interested in exploring how resistance in the form of identity-based discrimination can act as a springboa...