Azan Ahmed and Jonny Khan.The flat at Wordsworth House on the South Kilburn Estate, contains spartan remnants of the relatively dull and uncommunicative man Yusuf thought he knew, until he comes across a gaudy mid-90s shell suit jacket which not only smells of his Baba, but contains some revealing cassette tapes in the pocket.
Juxtaposed with Yusuf’s discovery that his father was something of a rapping rebel in his youth, is a second story relating to a boundary-resistant student Khalil (a thoroughly engaging turn from Jonny Khan) who exhibits a boisterous vibrancy in his classroom interpretation of Hamlet’s soliloquies. When in a heated exchange, he insists on describing the Prince of Denmark as a radical, the word triggers Yusuf to send his troublesome student to the Headmaster who has no hesitation in invoking a reporting protocol resulting in the security authorities showing a concerned interest in the boy.
As Yusuf reads and listens to his father’s rap lyrics from decades earlier, he realises what a vibrant youth he had been, with plans to be a recording artist with his mate Omar (also played by Khan). But what had caused him to curtail his plans to dominate the world of music and instead degenerate into a shrugging, grunting man, content to sit in the corner watching TV? The answer when it comes, is simple and effectively communicated with a distressing physical scene which has direct parallels with Khalil’s situation.
The human catalyst for unravelling the secrets of his father’s past, proves to be an elderly female relative — Dolly Aunty, (also played to comic effect by Ahmed). Aside from dropping into their exchanges memories of societal pressures (like having to assume an anglicised name because of the inability of her sewing factory manager to pronounce Khadijah her Pakistani name), she remembers Yusuf’s father Mustafa as cheeky and charming, but also that he became haunted by the event which irrevocably tarnished for him, the belief in Britain’s fairness and acceptance of immigrants.
Whilst it would be easy to nit-pick about certain choices made to ensure the flow of the piece, on the whole the script (penned by Azan Ahmed himself), serves as a solid and heartfelt commentary on the lived Muslim experience in the UK. As a white audience member is it not difficult to feel a certain collective shame when hearing lines about Pakis only being considered good enough to run corner shops and the like, but challenging subjects need challenging writers to speak their truth and to shine a light on those elements of society which remain subject to stigma, a lack of acceptance or proper engagement and understanding.
In closing, it pinched me on numerous occasions whilst writing this review, that spellcheck continually attempted to correct words and names, not least Azan for Alan. It serves as a reminder how far we have yet to travel.
Directed by Esme Allman, the production runs at the Studio space until 9th November.
