SAA‑uk presents: Maya: Birth of a Superhero

This concert is a bold & immersive narrative that reimagines the moment a girl becomes aware of her own power.

Set in contemporary London, the story follows Maya, an ordinary teenager whose world quietly shifts with the arrival of her first period. What begins as a private rite of passage unfolds into something far greater. As she navigates the silence, stigma and inherited shame surrounding menstruation within her family and community, Maya begins to uncover a different truth.

Her name, derived from the Sanskrit for magic and illusion, becomes a prophecy. The very experience she has been taught to conceal becomes the source of her strength. This is not a conventional coming of age story. It is a reclamation.

Through arresting visuals and a richly layered sonic landscape, Maya: Birth of a Superhero invites audiences into an intimate yet expansive world where myth and modernity collide. The body becomes a site of transformation. Shame dissolves into agency. Vulnerability reveals itself as power.

Created and directed by Poulomi Basu in collaboration with CJ Clarke, the work blends storytelling, activism and innovative technology to challenge long-held taboos and reframe menstruation as a symbol of resilience and creative force.

Maya: Birth of a Superhero is more than a performance. It is a call to reimagine what heroism looks like. It shines a light on experiences too often hidden and gives them scale, beauty and voice.

Photography and Creative Direction credit: Bishi x Fiona Garden.
In partnership with South Asian Arts – uk (SAA-uk).