The Shaking Earth

by Mashuq Mushtaq Deen

When mob violence took over the streets of New Delhi, India, following the assassination of the prime minister, it was said, "when a big tree falls, the earth shakes." Based on the true event of the 1984 anti-Sikh massacres, and told through an intimate lens, this play uncovers the sanctioned violence that took 8,000 lives and the repercussions of that trauma for survivors who fled to the west.

When mob violence took over the streets of New Delhi, India, following the assassination of the prime minister, it was said, "when a big tree falls, the earth shakes." Based on the true event of the 1984 anti-Sikh massacres, and told through an intimate lens, this play uncovers the sanctioned violence that took 8,000 lives and the repercussions of that trauma for survivors who fled to the west.

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The Shaking Earth

Recommended by

  • Nina Louise Morrison: The Shaking Earth by Mashuq Mushtaq Deen
    “

    This play absolutely blew me away. A brilliant concept brilliantly written - draws you in and has you on the edge of your seat, thoughtful, terrifying, moving, epic, revealing, surprising. It deserves a big NY production or ten all around the country/world.

    This play absolutely blew me away. A brilliant concept brilliantly written - draws you in and has you on the edge of your seat, thoughtful, terrifying, moving, epic, revealing, surprising. It deserves a big NY production or ten all around the country/world.

    ”
  • Premiere Stages at Kean University: The Shaking Earth by Mashuq Mushtaq Deen
    “

    Premiere Stages is pleased to recognize “The Shaking Earth” by Mashuq Mushtaq Deen as a semifinalist for the 2020 Premiere Play Festival. “The Shaking Earth” rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of professionals to become one of 26 semifinalists from 939 submissions. The panel was impressed by how much emotional life is conveyed in the concise scenework, language, and imagery. Moreover, the desire to escape trauma by looking to the future versus a desire to know the past in order to never repeat it is so resonant. Our congratulations and thanks...

    Premiere Stages is pleased to recognize “The Shaking Earth” by Mashuq Mushtaq Deen as a semifinalist for the 2020 Premiere Play Festival. “The Shaking Earth” rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of professionals to become one of 26 semifinalists from 939 submissions. The panel was impressed by how much emotional life is conveyed in the concise scenework, language, and imagery. Moreover, the desire to escape trauma by looking to the future versus a desire to know the past in order to never repeat it is so resonant. Our congratulations and thanks to Deen.

    read more
    ”

Development History

  • Workshop, NYTW, 2015
  • Reading, NYTW, 2015
  • Workshop, New Dramatists, 2015
  • Reading, Hemishperic Institute of Performance and Politics, 2013