Tag Archives: John Hoggarth

BROWN BOYS SWIM

Brown Boys Swim

★★★½

Soho Theatre

BROWN BOYS SWIM at the Soho Theatre

★★★½

BROWN BOYS SWIM

“It’s a slick and stylish production under the direction of John Hoggarth”

Kash and Mohsen are friends living in Oxford on the cusp of adulthood. Kash is a bit of a clown who loves to dance to the latest Punjabi music, Bob Marley and the Spinners. Mohsen is more academic and is more interested in getting into Oxford uni than getting his classmates to like him. But when the boys hear their classmate plans to throw a pool party there is one thing they agree on. They need to learn how to swim. Kash just wants to use it as an opportunity to flirt but Mohsen understands it as an opportunity to break stereotypes and learn a valuable life skill. For the sake of safety more than anything else he’s up for the challenge.

Brown Boys Swim is a classic story of contemporary British cultural dislocation. The boys are torn between their religion and islamic identity, and the ways and mores of their school mates. They bond over their trips to the mosque, fantasizing about their future wedding ceremonies and what sweets their mums’ have made for Eid. But where they clash is over whether and how to conform with their peers; from growing beards to at the extreme drinking alcohol.

It’s a slick and stylish production under the direction of John Hoggarth. James Button’s set is simple yet versatile. With just a couple of benches and some strip lights the boys move from school to the mosque, gym to the pool. Where the set and props are multipurpose, the costumes are multitudinous – with almost every scene requiring a different outfit. Each transition of set and costume is done intentionally by the actors on stage – wonderfully choreographed in synchronicity by movement director Sita Thomas. Roshan Gunga’s sound design is outstanding – particularly the scenes of the boys at the leisure centre pool where every movement of an arm or a leg is matched by a splashing sound – an impressively evocative feat.

“They play with every splash of humour and heart they’re given in Karim Khan’s script”

All this style is so noticeable because the changes in scene are too frequent and too many – stilting the drama and stopping the characters achieving any real depth. Each time Kash and Mohsen reached an impasse, which happened too quickly and too often to be believable, the scene would end, the set and costumes would very beautifully change, over a minute would go by and then the next scene would start, in a new location with the previous disagreement squashed and forgotten about.

Kashif Ghole and Ibraheem Hussain as Kash and Mohsen gave strong performances. Even more impressive given both actors have only graduated drama school this year. They play with every splash of humour and heart they’re given in Karim Khan’s script. Kashif Ghole is totally endearing, cracking jokes whilst revealing a youthful vulnerability. Ibraheem Hussain gives us a tough exterior that hides some insecurities, but relaxes and warms when mucking about with his friend. The boys portrayal of adolescent friendship is charmingly truthful, and it’s a credit to their performances that the ending is unexpectedly moving.

Despite the committed and impassioned performances and high production value, the lack of depth in the dialogue put constraints on this show’s capacity to really allow the audience to be drawn in to the drama.


BROWN BOYS SWIM at the Soho Theatre

Reviewed on 4th October 2023

by Amber Woodward

Photography by Geraint Lewis


 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

 

Strategic Love Play | ★★★★★ | September 2023
Kate | ★★★★★ | September 2023
Eve: All About Her | ★★★★★ | August 2023
String V Spitta | ★★★★ | August 2023
Bloody Elle | ★★★★★ | July 2023
Peter Smith’s Diana | | July 2023
Britanick | ★★★★★ | February 2023
Le Gateau Chocolat: A Night at the Musicals | ★★★★ | January 2023
Welcome Home | ★★★★ | January 2023
Super High Resolution | ★★★ | November 2022
We Were Promised Honey! | ★★★★ | November 2022
Hungry | ★★★★★ | July 2022

Brown Boys Swim

Brown Boys Swim

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Brown Boys Swim

Brown Boys Swim

★★★★

Edinburgh Festival Fringe

BROWN BOYS SWIM at Edinburgh Festival Fringe

★★★★

 

Brown Boys Swim

 

“The real strength of Khan’s script is in the dialogue: natural, light and really playful”

 

Anish Roy and Varun Raj play two best friends, Mohsen and Kash, in a new play by Karim Khan about friendship, adolescence and religious identity. Mohsen and Kash are Muslim. Unlike their peers, they choose not to drink alcohol, don’t get invited to all the parties and, critically, can’t swim. After Kash manages to bag an invite to a pool party in one months’ time, they begin making regular visits to the local swimming pool to try and change this. But on their way to learning backstroke and front crawl, they begin to question other choices they make, and their friendship is put to the test with tragic consequences.

The real strength of Khan’s script is in the dialogue: natural, light and really playful. Rather than each scene revolving around big dramatic plot points, we get an insight into the dynamic between the characters, who pray together, spend time with each other’s families, and know each and every part of the other person. We also find out quite early on about an accident where a young man named Amir drowned some time earlier. The water is dangerous for two boys who never learnt to swim. Urdu phrases and other snippets of the boys’ culture are embedded in their conversations, and the scenes are performed with generosity and spontaneity by Roy and Raj. Kash is cheeky and flirty. Mohsen is more focused and averse to risk.

James Bailey’s lighting design takes us softly through a multi-coloured palette of blues and greens and purples. Combined with Roshan Gunga’s sound design and composition, with strings and splashes of water, the scene transitions give the feel of a gentle swim stroke, taking us carefully through the water to the next part of the story. James Button creates a blue-tiled wall, about waist-height, which is cleverly and subtly moved into different angles and positions, along with a couple of simple wooden benches to create the different scenes; it’s especially effective when the characters are behind it, the top of the wall acting as the pool edge, with Roy and Raj holding on for dear life, trying to find the courage to bop their heads below the water on the other side.

The script does build a little slowly, with a very abrupt plot-twist at the end which feels too fast to get the emotional impact I think this moment needs. We hear throughout the boys dealing with judgement, micro-aggressions and racism; shop security who assume they’re thieves; the revelation that the party invite was only because it was assumed they’d be bringing drugs; and the way the boys are stared at by people in the swimming pool. The ending attempts at showing the possible consequences of this structural, everyday prejudice, but it feels like a slightly shoehorned conclusion which jars with the tempo and energy of everything up to that point.

Questions around manhood, masculinity, and what makes a ‘good Muslim’, as well as the emotional dependency these two boys have on each other, is where the writing really thrives. Brown Boys Swim is an engaging drama, with compelling performances and a brilliant design and staging, with sharp direction from John Hoggarth.

 

 

Reviewed 14th August 2022

by Joseph Winer

Photography by  Geraint Lewis

 

 

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