Anish Roy as Mohsen and Varun Raj as Kash in Brown Boys Swim (Written by Karim Khan)
Photo credit: Geraint Lewis

Fantastic storytelling in a heartfelt, vivid, captivating and brutally honest piece centring the Muslim experience in UK

The Soho Theatre once again proves to be the heart of the city’s beating new writers. In this 60 minute piece by Karim Khan (winner of a elusive writing scholarship), Brown Boys Swim is his expression of an excellent gateway to escapism into the lives of two young Muslim men: Mohsen and Kash living in Oxford. Both open the show on an explosive start, with Punjabi Bhangra music filling the space Upstairs at the iconic venue located on Dean Street. There’s talk about Umrah (religious pilgrimage), Wudhu (ablution prior to praying) and much more that make this a strikingly honest portrayal of Muslim life in Britain. The expectations of the two young men, along with their immaturity and sensitivity really shines in the writing.

Where this piece also finds its feet is very much so from the get go, as you enter the space carefully designed by James Button. The music is thumping, which makes you immerse yourself into the space. Roshan Ganga’s sound continues to provide a highlight throughout – from turning on the showers, to the end where we hear Tu Jhoom and the booming voice of Abida Parvenu and Naseebo Lal.

From a set design element, the benches from a swimming pool changing room doubles up as weights, and the clever LED lights flash in colours to represent new locations and make the limited space feel breathtakingly new in every scene. The vignettes of the two mens’ lives as they intertwine – the main reason for them wanting to take up lessons to swim is to attend a classmate’s party. The character study from the writer Karim Khan, couple with the direction by John Hoggarth really do produce an elevated show that sparkles continually. I wanted more when it ended, for the sheer fact I felt befriended by Mohsen and Kash. I saw a lot of myself in Mohsen, and the anguish and reflections of his internal thoughts were so beautiful to see portrayed.

Anish Roy as Mohsen and Varen Raj as Kash in Brown Boys Swim
Photo credit: Geraint Lewis

This is a pretty sold-out show, and without revealing too much: it left me utterly speechless. I was moved, I felt seen, I was in awe of this authentic piece of storytelling on stage. The lighting design worked, as did the set and sound. The team complimented each other – both on stage and off-stage.  Anish Roy and Varun Raj have an extremely bright future, and their conviction in their respective characters and their journeys to an audience like tonight’s will be firmly implanted in my mind for a long time after leaving the theatre.

Listing details:
?Soho Theatre, London: https://sohotheatre.com/shows/brown-boys-swim/
Mon 26 Sep – Sat 15 Oct 2022 3.00pm, 7.00pm

Tom Hollander as Boris Berezovsky in Patriots. Photo credit: Marc Brenner

We are greeted with a darkened room with bright lights replicating a Russian bar. Stools are places to mimic a bar, and we can notice Russian letters. There’s an immediate transformation to one being fully immersed into a set (something that I really revel in), and fierce red lighting showcases very early on that this is going to be a play where things hot up. And hot up, they sure as hell do..

The play is directed by Rupert Goold, and tells the life of a billionaire who was a child genius. We meet his mother, and lo and behold – the life of a genius. It really is layered in a brilliant book (written by Peter Morgan) and that offers such a great insight for anyone not as au fait with the subject of Russian oligarchs and the rise of the current Premier Vladimir Putin. There’s a lot of tension, but ultimate the viewer is gripped by the action on stage — something that may not be the case with a topic such as politics. It was riveting, and the vivid direction and use of the space is to be hugely commended.

A stand-out performance comes from Will Keen as Putin, but also Jamael Westman – fresh from his turn originating the titularr role in the original West End production of Hamilton. The Scouse-accemt was spot-on, and we went on a journey of his character Litvenyenko – despite his sad and unfortunate demise. When he was on stage, it was really instantly believable and there depth to his character’s demise – which begins when he speaks out against the KGB in a press conference is luridly portrayed.

If you can get a ticket to this sold-out run, I really would run and leap at the chance. Check daily for returns. I love a piece that will have you thinking about it long after it’s ended. It is a superbly directed show, where the entire creative team have worked hard to create a masterful piece of theatre — and the entire cast’s efforts truly are shown.

Book tickets?: https://almeida.co.uk/whats-on/patriots/2-jul-2022-20-aug-2022

Almeida Theatre, Islington

Until 20 August.

#PR #PressInvite

Katherine Parkinson and Company in the NT’s Much Ado About Nothing (c) Manuel Harlan

As someone who studied Shakespeare at both school, and also at University, you can certainly I was shocked when I saw Much Ado About Nothing was the latest Willy Shakespeare play the National were to put on. It’s one that I have had lease exposure, and wasn’t aware of — but this production made me realise that it’s a complete genius of a work by the Bard.

I felt like I’d escaped to the Italian Riviera with Katherine Parkinson (Home, I’m Darling, The IT Crowd) who plays Beatrice and John Heffernan(Dracula, She Stoops to Conquer) who plays Benedick. The feeling one feels when entering the Lyttleton theatre is one of being away, with waves crashing and the sound of sand being washed away. This instantly put me at ease, and in the setting – and does what theatre does best. It transports you to another place. Bliss!

The plot is as follows: since the 1930s, the legendary family-run Hotel Messina has been visited by artists, celebrities and royalty. When the current owner’s daughter falls for a dashing young soldier, the hallways are ringing with the sound of wedding bells. However, not all the guests are in the mood for love, and a string of deceptions soon surround not only the young couple, but also the steadfastly single Beatrice and Benedick.

It is directed by Simon Godwin and the remaining cast members include: Al Coppola, Celeste Dodwell, Eben Figueiredo, Olivia Forrest, David Fynn, Ashley Gillard, Brandon Grace, Nick Harris, Phoebe Horn, David Judge, Kiren Kebaili-Dwyer, Ioanna Kimbook, Wendy Kweh, Marcia Lecky, Ewan Miller, Mateo Oxley, Rufus Wright and Ashley Zhangazha.

Overall, this was a slick and stellar piece of theatre. It did what it intended to do, which was to entertain. I was grinning throughout, and was really impressed by the way in which the play unfolded. The only piece of direction I’d not perhaps have done myself is to put a lower-class character in a “northern” accent, which I felt was reinforcing stereotypes at times. Bits of set included hammock, and a gelato tray – which were used subtly but had the crowds roaring with laughter. As far as sets go, this one was also stand-out for its scenes where the characters sit in bathtubs, but also the way in which the action felt naturally moved along. All in all, I left with a great idea of what other works – apart from his tragedies and histories – William Shakespeare is capable of, and left wanting to delve into more of the canon of his works.

Until 10 September 2022.
Book tickets?

Photograph: Landmark Media/Alamy

When I was first in a cinema earlier this year as the world “opened up”, and saw the trailer for Elvis, I was really blown away by the gyrating hips and “Elvis-fever”. It was someone for who I – as a 90s kid – was not too overly familiar with. He seemed like a mythical beast, for I’d neither grown up with his music. I do recall, however, that the very first encounter I had with Elvis’ music was a cover of his song ‘A Little Less Conversation’ and a 2002 remix by Junkie XL of a later re-recording of the song by Presley became a worldwide hit. Beside that, I’d heard the odd song like ‘Jailhouse Rock’ but nothing was too prominent in his discography due to the lack of exposure.

Having said that, I was blown away by this movie for being able to captivate my attention for a whole 2 hours and 40 mins (a hard task, even for a theatre production with an interval). For instance, the direction by Bad Luhrman – whose Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge are culy classics – was so vividly portrayed. The bright cinematography, along with Austin Butlers’s exquisite performance as ‘The King’ was really commendable.

I left feeling like I’d learned a lot (the history gaps I crave to be filled in when truly going into an epic telling of an extraordinary life), especially in terms of the influence Black music had on Elvis. It made me want to take a plane to Beale Street in Memphis immediately, and visit the club Elvis frequented. It was refreshing, and the way his later life’s turmoils and the pain of fame was sensitively dealt with.

Do not miss this, and let yourself escape the heat in this soaring temperature-clad blip on our “normal island” to enter a room to be told a beautifully shot movie. I just adored it. Let me know what you thought with a tweet @hamzajahanzeb