The September Culture Review

Once a month, we bring together reviews of Medway’s cultural highlights in a single round-up, produced exclusively for our paid supporters. This month, our team of intrepid cultural reviewers visit talks, music, poetry, gardens, and food from across our towns...

Sangat: We Are, Other
Medway Little Theatre, Rochester, 12 Sep

After a bumpy few months, I wasn’t entirely sure I was ready to leave my flat, let alone dust down my reviewer’s hat. However, I will forever be grateful to have been lured out to Medway Little Theatre to soak up this gorgeous immersive workshop, part of the fabulous Heritage Open Days taking place across Medway this September, co-ordinated by the indefatigable Rob Flood. 

Inspired by the Sikh concept of sangat – community, congregation, fellowship – the project emerged from storyteller Adipat Virdi’s intention to map the Sikh community’s history and cultural contribution in Medway and beyond. Aiming to preserve oral histories through digital storytelling, what emerged was a participatory performance built around the rich experiences of Sikh families in Medway, while also asking us to consider how our own identity, heritage and belonging shape us all.

Indeed, it wasn’t long before the audience were invited onto the stage to stand in front of a complete stranger. What followed was an intriguing exercise to contemplate what was both different and the same in each other. Initial embarrassment soon shifted to genuine curiosity as the person in front of us became more familiar with each passing moment.  

The spotlight then turned to the list of values spread across the wall behind us. Here, Virdi challenged us to choose the one we had compromised in order to fit in, and to start considering the various masks we all wear to survive in life. 

Returning to our seats, we shared our chosen word with someone we didn’t know, and it was fascinating to hear three brave audience members’ stories as they took to the stage to share theirs. The idea of our differences being a conduit for connection really sparkled here as the word ‘community’ came up time and time again.

Drawing on audio recordings, video, photographs, personal objects and family material, the workshop continued to intertwine everyday life: a voice recalling migration, a photograph capturing celebration, an object carrying generational meaning. These pieces formed a layered portrait of what it has meant, and continues to mean, to be Sikh in Medway. Intimate without being intrusive, Virdi curated proceedings with care and a clear respect for the people who offered their stories.

There was a vulnerability to proceedings when Virdi orchestrated the creation of an artefact using his own turban material, also known as a pag, pinned up on the wall, to allow us to all write a question from our six-year-old selves. Encouraged once more to seek out strangers for discussion, we attempted to answer the question by asking “why” five times to really get to the heart of the matter.

While I would never normally jump at the chance to share with people I didn’t know, these conversations opened up surprising pathways of connection between you and those around you. In a room of strangers, you began to recognise echoes of yourself. 

We were then offered the chance to reply to any of the questions written. A particular favourite was: “What was the best gift you have been given?” as the responses reflected the gift of spending time with loved ones long passed, a gentle reminder of how memory and loss influence identity and belonging.

Finally, Virdi then took the material and then tied it into a turban. It was an emotional moment when he shared that he had done this 25 times previously in Edinburgh, but had never felt this degree of nerves due to the presence of so many Sikhs in the room. It was beautiful when an elder member of the community joined him on stage to ensure he nailed it.

What made Sangat particularly powerful was its refusal to treat heritage as something fixed or distant. Instead, it positioned identity as something lived, negotiated, and continually shaped by community. You didn’t need any prior knowledge of Sikhism to take part: curiosity and willingness were enough. The workshop’s generosity lay in how it centred difference not as a barrier but as a bridge. It suggested, quietly but confidently, that what connects us is not sameness but the richness of our varied stories.

By the end, the temporary sangat created in the room felt real: a small community formed through listening, sharing and having the courage to participate. Virdi succeeded not only in illuminating Sikh experiences in Medway, but also in reminding each attendee that belonging is something we build together. - Anne Marie Jordan

A Poet in Every Port
Chatham Library, 27 Jul

A sweltering showcase for the breadth of poetic and creative talent in Medway and its environs, the disappointment that Roger McGough will no longer headline the event soon dissipates. One of the highlights of the evening comes early on from Medway Youth Laureate Indigo Rose, reflecting on the world around them, expressing cynicism beyond their years, shrewd, askew and sometimes acerbic. I’m glad I’m not their Economics teacher.