Camden People’s Theatre and Jonny Khan present CAMDENWALLA, a bold new play uncovering the story of the Bengali community’s fight for safety in 1990s North London, running at Camden People’s Theatre until 4th July 2026. Set in the very building where the real events took place, the production shines a light on an overlooked chapter of London history, telling the story of the volunteers who kept each other safe when no one else would.
Writer Jonny Khan speaks about his research for the play, discovering what happens when communities stop trusting institutions. At a moment when trust in political leadership and public institutions feels increasingly fragile, CAMDENWALLA revisits a period when migrant communities in London felt they could no longer rely on official systems to keep them safe. As contemporary Britain continues to grapple with rising anti-immigrant rhetoric and community tension, Jonny discovered the emotional labour carried by ordinary people who stepped in when systems broke down, and what the Camden Monitoring Project’s model of solidarity can teach us about collective care today.
“One of the things that surprised me most while researching CAMDENWALLA was how often people spoke about not feeling protected. I originally started the project wanting to learn more about the history of the building itself. That led me to researching the Bengali community around Drummond Street in Camden. I knew some of the broad history – migration, businesses, political organising, but I didn’t expect how many conversations would come back to fear.
People told me about racist attacks, intimidation and harassment. They spoke about walking home in groups because it felt safer, avoiding certain streets and young people being targeted simply for being Asian.
Again and again, I heard stories of people feeling like there was nowhere else to turn. Reporting incidents didn’t always lead to action. Many felt ignored by the authorities or that their experiences weren’t being taken seriously. When those systems don’t work or don’t seem interested in working, people are left with a choice to either accept it or find another way. The Camden Monitoring Project was one of those other ways.
What inspires me about the project is that it wasn’t created by people with huge amounts of power. It was created by local people who recognised a problem and decided something needed to be done. They documented racist incidents, supported victims, helped people navigate systems that often felt intimidating or inaccessible and created a place where people could be listened to and believed.
While writing CAMDENWALLA, I found myself thinking a lot about the emotional cost of that work. We often talk about activism in terms of campaigns, protests, and political victories. But behind all of that are people spending hours listening to difficult stories, supporting neighbours through traumatic experiences, and carrying the weight of other people’s pain.
Many of the people involved had jobs, families and struggles of their own. Yet they still found the time and energy to support others because they understood that nobody else was going to do it for them. I think that’s one of the reasons this history feels so relevant today.
Over the past few years we’ve seen increasing anti-immigrant rhetoric in Britain, with migrants often presented as problems rather than neighbours. The language may be different, but some of the underlying tensions don’t feel entirely unfamiliar. At the same time, trust in institutions feels increasingly fragile. Whether it’s politics, policing or public services, many people feel disconnected from the systems that are supposed to represent them. That doesn’t mean we’re living through exactly the same moment as the 1970s, 80s and 90s, but I do think there are lessons in looking back.
The Camden Monitoring Project reminds us that communities are often at their strongest when they look after one another. That might sound obvious, but I think we’ve become very good at talking about community and less good at investing in it. The people involved in the Camden Monitoring Project weren’t posting statements or waiting for somebody else to solve the problem. They were building relationships, creating networks of support and showing up for people. Researching this history has also made me think differently about what resistance looks like. I became interested in how resistance changes depending on the circumstances and the generation. Sometimes resistance is public and visible and sometimes it’s quieter.
For me, one of the most moving parts of this story is that the project wasn’t just about documenting racism. It was about making people feel seen and telling people that what happened to them mattered. I’ve often thought about the idea that our parents’ generation didn’t rest so my generation could. They did it so that we could have different opportunities in Britain today. But that doesn’t mean the work is finished. It means each generation has to find its own way of continuing it.
As a theatre maker, I’m interested in stories that might otherwise be forgotten. The history of the Bengali community in Camden is full of extraordinary acts of organising, resilience, and solidarity, but much of it remains largely unknown outside the people who lived it. CAMDENWALLA is my attempt to bring some of those stories into the room.
The Camden Monitoring Project showed what can happen when people refuse to accept that things are “just the way they are”. Communities can build when they come together, and it reminds us that when trust in institutions begins to fail, our relationships with one another become even more important.”
CAMDENWALLA runs at Camden People’s Theatre until 4th July 2026. For tickets and more information, visit cptheatre.co.uk/whatson/CAMDENWALLA.
