As the Park Theatre enters its second decade (it opened in 2013), I was quite intrigued by the concept of the play Passing written by Dan Sareen and which is also directed by Imy Wyatt Comer. The poster depicts Amy-Leigh Hickman (whose performance in the recent revival of East Is East at the National Theatre was exceptional), who plays Rachel Singh and is adorned in a strikingly beautiful sari on the artwork for this production. Initially, when I told friends of the name of this piece, they immediately thought of the Nella Larsen book. Though it does touch on themes of cultural assimilation and seemingly seeing yourself as ‘passing’ as the default race. Admittedly, I was not familiar with either of the creative team’s work, though the casting choice, coupled with new writing is what piqued my interest to return to the Park90 studio space.
The story is one of a nuclear family which consists of Yash (Bhaskar Patel) and Ruth Singh (Catherine Cusack) and their two children Rachel (Amy-Leigh Hickman) and David (Kishore Walker). There’s also Rachel’s boyfriend who is simply referred to, as Matt (Jack Flamminger). We hear about a grandad, but never actually meet him so it’s unbelievably agonising to wait to see how the play takes off. His arrival is where this long slog of a play ends.
The play’s beginning is inspiring, with Rachel (Amy-Leigh Hickman) who is caught between two cultures. However, it’s soon gradually apparent that this is a seemingly unrefined piece of work. The introductions of the characters seems abrupt, and there’s a lot of misdirection. Rachel’s character feels somewhat compelled to connect with the Indian side of her Anglo-Indian identity and hence decorates the home with lights and is learning how to wrap herself in a sari. The first fifteen minutes began with lots of interruptions which showcased the clear lack of rehearsal time for this piece. The lack of robust direction meant that some of the actors spoke with their faces turned away from the audience, therefore resulting in some dialogue being lost at times. It was also quite hard to hear when two different conversations were being had simultaneously, as was the case on at least two occasions.
Further, the material was lacking some oomph, despite the clearly talented actors giving it their all to convey the writer’s words which I believe was the root of what made this an endearing-yet-flawed piece. Having said that, highlights the performances come from Amy-Leigh Hickman, Kishore Walker whose sibling relationship felt realistic. Their comedic timing was fantastic and provided light relief. The parental dynamic was odd, somewhat jarred and sadly let down two impressive actors in Bhaskar Patel and Catherine Cusack. The 2-D nature of the character of Ruth Singh, sadly, felt like it was not fully realised and I felt needed more work despite the actress’ ability to convey an earnest mother-like figure.
The first act ended quite abruptly after a board game went wrong (it seemed quite random a place to stop the action for an audience break, and wasn’t the best place to leave audiences wanting more). I saw a fellow audience member leave, and I was hoping that this piece would find its feet in the second act. Sadly, it did not with very basic arguments around racism in the school (which felt repetitive), and the constant bickering made this at times, a grating watch.
It was a shame that the material let this down, the production was not something that was polished (there were several mishaps on stage, which admittedly were covered up well in character). Given the play’s lengthy run time it simply didn’t engage me and seemed rushed. Its intentions were not as clarified like the ghee used to fry the on-stage samosas (which did, as a matter of fact, smell delicious).
Until 25 Nov: https://parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/passing
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