It’s not just that rich people don’t know what they’ve got. They don’t even know what they throw away.

India is beginning to prosper. But beyond the luxury hotels surrounding Mumbai airport is an obstacle, a makeshift slum. It’s home to foulmouthed Zehurnisa and her garbage sorting son Abdul, entrepreneurs both. Sunil, twelve, stunted, flashy, picks plastic. Kalu, metal thief, sashays to Om Shanti Om. Manju, schoolteacher, hopes to be the settlement’s first woman to gain a degree. Asha, go-to woman, exploits every scam to become a first-class person. And Fatima, One Leg, is about to make an accusation that destroys herself and rocks the neighbourhood.

Katherine Boo spent three years recording the desperate, resourceful inhabitants of Annawadi. From her uncompromising book, winner of the National Book Award for Non-Fiction 2012, David Hare has fashioned a tumultuous play on an epic scale.