The eagerly anticipated The Village – a brand new adaptation of Lope de Vega’s Spanish play, Fuenteovejuna, by playwright April De Angelis – plays at Theatre Royal Stratford East.

The Village transports the classic tale to contemporary India. It’s a powerful story of community and solidarity, and the lengths a person will go to protect themselves from tyranny.

In Jyoti’s village, life is simple. People work and sing while living off the land. And finding a partner is far from her mind. She’d much prefer a delicious meal. Things are happy until the Inspector and his men come back to town. But when the tyrannical Inspector has his eye on Jyoti and he commits unspeakable acts against the village, everyone is pushed to breaking point. Will Jyoti dare turn him down despite what it may mean for her village?

This 17th-century masterpiece has been given a renewed sense of urgency in April’s poignant adaptation. The Village stars Anya Chalotra as Jyoti and Art Malik as The Inspector.

Nadia Fall directs The Village as her inaugural production as Artistic Director. Nadia has noted that this production will be directed in homage to Joan Littlewood. The story was previously told on stage when performed by Littlewood and the Theatre Workshop in 1955.

The strictly limited season runs until 6 October.