This is Home: Mikray Tursun, an Uyghur playwright in Stepney

Hailing from Northern China with West End dreams, we speak to Tursun about Uyghur musical theatre and her life in Stepney.

Mikray Tursun opens the door to her shared flat in Stepney wearing purple patterned ‘Atlas’ silk. The textile is thought to have inspired the name of one of the largest and most famous trade routes: the Silk Road. 

Like her ‘Atlas’ dress, Tursun’s journey is one of cultural trade. She hails from Ürümqi, the capital city of Xinjiang in the Northwest of China. Xinjiang is an autonomous region like Tibet, meaning its government has increased legislative rights but is still a part of China. 

Xinjiang is designated autonomous for Uyghurs like Tursun. They are a Turkic and largely Muslim ethnic minority group that the Chinese government has repeatedly been accused of targeting with repression and detention. 

Originally based in Leicester, Tursun moved to Stepney two years ago to be closer to her West End dreams. Her flat is small, but impeccably tidy, with bare white walls and a bowl of fruit for visitors. Tursun herself walks like she is floating, and sits ramrod straight during the interview in her kitchen – the posture of a dancer. 

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you tell me a bit about your upbringing and your childhood in Xinjiang? 

I’m from an artistic family, so my parents are both national first-class dancers in Xinjiang, and my brother is a choreographer.

When I was five years old, I was in my first film. I became a little bit famous in the area, everybody called me ‘little star.’

When I was ten years old I went to Xinjiiang art school to study dancing. Then I broke my knees after dancing for a few years. That was a very traumatic time for me. It was hard to accept, but I had to move on.

So I was thinking, I can sing as well, maybe I can transfer to the music department. When I was 15 years old, I became the youngest college student to get into the Shanghai Theatre Academy, one of the top art academies in China, to study musical theatre.  

During that time, everybody knew about me in the musical industry in Shanghai. When I graduated, I could’ve kept studying for my master’s degree as a director. But I gave up because the Xinjiang art government were asking me to come back. 

I decided to go back to my hometown and I joined the Xinjiang local opera group as an actress. 

Could you tell me a bit more about Uyghur culture and your outfit? 

Uyghur is one of the biggest ethnic minority groups living in Xinjiang, China. We have our own native language which is also called Uyghur, it’s a bit similar to Uzbek and Turkish. We have a very rich culture, especially in art and food. 

We have different instruments, dance styles, and outfits as well (she gestures to her patterned dress). This is an ‘Atlas’, it’s from a different area, I think from Hotan. 

Also we have this very traditional Uyghur hat. We have different types, this one is for the girls and we have another hat for the men. This one is from home, my mom sent it to me. 

What’s the food like at home, do you miss it? 

The food is so delicious. In the UK, people think it’s Chinese food. No, it’s totally different. 

The most popular food is ‘Polo’, in English I think we call it ‘Pilaf’. We have lamb meat and carrots, and some people add some potatoes – it’s very nice. Especially on a special day, we have to have ‘Polo’ on the table. 

We also have ‘Laghman’, it’s a noodle with lamb. It’s interesting, our cultural food is all connected with lamb meat. There’s also ‘Dapanji,’ spicy chicken, but that’s a little bit mixed with Chinese food. 

These are all my favourites. In my hometown, I didn’t really properly eat this traditional food. I would mostly go for spicy snacks, like Chow Mi Fen, a kind of fried rice noodles. That comes from Hui minorities, but we do it our own way. 

But when I came to the UK, I missed everything. Proper food, like ‘Polo’, ‘Laghman’ and ‘Dapanji’. I would say maybe Polo is my favourite. 

What brought you to Stepney?

In the beginning, just finding a flat. I came here for a viewing and when I got out from Whitechapel station, I said, wow, am I in London? Because I could see Indian writing, and then outside the station, a very busy small bazaar. In Ürümqi, we have this same kind of bazaar.

That made me very comfortable, people were wearing their own cultural outfits as well. I was thinking, oh, this is a bit similar to my culture. 

What do you like about the neighbourhood?

I like the parks, and I like visiting galleries. You can find everything here, there are also a lot of Chinese shops and halal food shops. Me and my neighbour, we don’t know each other but every time we see each other we smile and say hi. 

The Chinese government’s oppression of the Uyghur community is often in the headlines here, is that something you speak about in your theatre show, ‘She came from Xinjiang’? 

I didn’t touch on that, because that’s not my experience. I’m just talking about the arts, a girl simply chasing a dream. 

Tursun hopes to bring her debut UK theatre show ‘She Came from Xinjiang,’ to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival next year. 

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