Indian actor and writer Mohit Mathur on his Debut Play About Immigration

Based on his own experiences of moving from Mumbai to London, Dial 1 for UK explores the dreams of those who journey West for a better life only to discover the reality is far removed from their fantasies. Mohit talks about why he wrote the show, audiences reactions and what he hopes audiences will take from it

Your play draws on your own experiences of moving from Mumbai to London—what moment or memory first inspired you to turn that personal journey into a piece of theatre?

I was always intrigued by the idea of people in India working in call centres and solving problems for people in the UK; helping them from thousands of miles away. That distance, and yet that strange sense of connection, really fascinated me.

When I moved from Mumbai to London, I started noticing all these little things that felt both ordinary and profound. Like people drinking water straight from the tap, that completely amazed me. Or the way everyone complained about the weather, while I actually loved it! Even my first flight here became part of the story; I remember being shocked that they were serving free alcohol on the plane.

But there were tougher moments too, like being called a racial slur on the street. And I became curious about the concept of care homes. I was intrigued by how In the UK, older people often live apart from their families, and many of their carers are migrants from countries like India, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe according to statistics from the Home Office in May. It says a lot about how interconnected our lives are.

All these experiences; the humour, the shock, the cultural clashes, the compassion. They all came together and became the seed for this play. 

Dial 1 for UK mixes humour with difficult realities like racism and loneliness. How did you find the balance between comedy and pain in your writing process?

I think there’s a strange kind of comedy in racism; it takes time to see it, but often it comes from ignorance and sheer stupidity. Sometimes people say things that make no sense at all, and when you actually put those words on stage, the audience can see how absurd they are. That’s where the humour lies - in exposing how ridiculous those ideas sound when held up to the light.

The pain, though, is very real. For me, writing is a way to process it. Putting those experiences on paper and sharing them through the play is my way of letting them go; of turning something personal and painful into something that others can connect with, maybe even laugh at, and reflect on.

You’ve spoken about wanting South Asian audiences to see themselves on stage, while also encouraging all audiences to reflect on migration. What were some of the challenges of writing a story that speaks so personally but also universally?

I’ve been careful not to make the story the typical downtrodden immigrant experience; the cliché we so often hear. I wanted the character to be strong, someone who fights back. - a dreamer who truly believed he could make it out of India. Phil Willmott (the show’s the director and dramaturg) has been incredible in shaping the piece, helping to make it more universal so it becomes a story for everyone, not just south asian audiences.

The first draft focused heavily on trauma and struggle, but through multiple work-in-progress and industry showcases, I kept refining it to make it more human. After four drafts, it now celebrates the resilience of an immigrant - the hard work and determination it takes to make it all the way to Britain. My hope is that audiences see someone they recognise in Uday Kumar. If they do, I’ll feel I’ve achieved that universality I was striving for.

What has the audience response been to the show?

When I performed the piece in Leicester at Curve, people came up afterwards and said they knew someone just like that - friends or family who were going through similar experiences with migration and feeling far from home. The same thing happened in Newcastle; audiences connected deeply because they recognised those stories around them.

Working with Phil really helped shape the piece so it wasn’t just about one man’s pain as an immigrant from India, but about something more universal and human, where one person is trying to find connection in this stage world.

What’s been fascinating is seeing how differently audiences respond. When I performed it in India, the jokes that landed were completely different from the ones that connect here in Britain. The references shift, but there’s always a point of connection. That’s what I love; the show resonates differently with everyone, but it always seems to click somewhere.

Having performed in major productions like Life of Pi and international Shakespeare festivals, how does performing your own deeply personal writing compare to those experiences?

It’s fantastic, honestly. When I’m performing my own writing, I’m not being told where to stand or how to move - I get to create this person from scratch, someone I’ve built from everything I’ve seen and experienced. He’s close to who I really am, but still far enough away that I can look at him with some distance. He’s a mix of people I’ve met, struggles I’ve witnessed, and my own journey. And out of all that comes this very rich, layered character who’s going through something much bigger than me. Playing him on stage feels incredible.

With shows like Life of Pi or A Midsummer Night’s Dream, the scripts are incredible and iconic; everyone knows those stories. But with Dial 1 for UK, there’s a different kind of pride and joy. When people connect with your story, when they see themselves in it or stay back to talk for hours about migration and identity.. that’s a feeling nothing else can match. It’s deeply personal and incredibly rewarding.

The show has grown from development programmes to Soho Theatre, Edinburgh Fringe, and beyond. As a performer, how has audience response shifted across these different spaces, and what moments of connection have stayed with you most?

Performing this piece in Mumbai for close friends who hadn’t seen me act in three or four years was really special, many British colloquial references and jokes were lost, but all the Bollywood references were picked up really fast.

Then performing at Curve in Leicester, where I have no friends or family and had never been before, was amazing - the audience was genuinely keen to see the piece. People came up afterwards and said things like, “We didn’t expect much from a one-man show, but you exceeded our expectations and made me question everything about myself.” That was profound.

The show has evolved a lot, from a short section at Soho Theatre, to Edinburgh Fringe, and now this UK tour. Along the way, there have been unforgettable moments of connection. One older gentleman came up and asked me, “Tell me life is better now. Tell me this isn’t your story.” The way he expected me to respond was so striking.

Many audience members hope for a “better” ending, a hopeful resolution for migrants. That’s a positive thing, people want hope; but it also reminds me that the reality isn’t always so simple. Seeing the contrast reflected in the audience’s response has stayed with me.

Dial 1 for UK is on tour around the UK from 10th October – 20th November stopping at Oxford, Plymouth, London (Tara Theatre and Riverside Studios), Southampton, Derby, Stafford, Colchester, Worcester, Newport, Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Weston-Super-Mare and Bedford. For more go to www.mohitmathur.co.uk