Tag Archives: Naveed Khan

THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA

★★★★

Barbican

THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA at the Barbican

★★★★

“a high-spirited, multi-coloured and absolutely joyous interpretation”

Written thirty years ago and set half a century ago, Hanif Kureishi’s “The Buddha of Suburbia” still contains a lot that is still true about Britain today. In Emma Rice’s adaptation (co-adapted by Kureishi) the reality is expressed through comedy and, like all the best fables, the seriousness of the message hits hardest when delivered in kid gloves. A ‘rite of passage’ story, it is part fairy tale and part social realism. Directed by Rice, too, it has slightly less of the creative chaos that is usually on offer, resulting in a beautifully slick production; but is still packed with magic, joy and the anarchic fun that has become her trademark.

If there is any doubt about the setting (though Rachana Jadhav’s authentic set design and Vicki Mortimer’s period costume should instantly quell them), the protagonist, anti-hero and narrator – Karim – immediately sets us straight. It is the eve of Thatcher’s rise to power and Karim introduces himself to the audience with an assured swagger that belies someone still trying to find their feet. Dee Ahluwalia, as Karim, mirrors those qualities with an ease and stage presence that belie his experience. A lithe figure, he guides us on his journey with a clarity of storytelling that casts out any need to be familiar with the original novel.

He whisks us back further to 1976 and into the bosom of his extended, mixed-race family. Karim is desperate to escape suburbia, although by the looks of things there is plenty going on in his neck of the woods. Sex is available on tap, it seems, but I guess he’s looking for something deeper. Cue his headlong dive into the world of theatre, for which the words ‘frying pan’ and ‘fire’ come to mind. Beneath the social commentary, it is the characterisation that brings the show to rich, colourful life. With some multi-rolling and swift doubling up, the impressive ensemble cast portray a host of exuberant, eccentric personalities whom we grow to love despite – or because of – their flaws. All of them are caricatures, but all have a striking individuality.

Karim’s father Haroon (the acrobatic Ankur Bahl) is a Muslim from Bombay who has turned to Buddhist teachings as a means to seduce the hippy housewives of Southeast London. Katy Owen plays the hard-done-by wife. Owen reappears as aspiring actress Eleanor, hilariously pretentious, upper-middle class but wanting to ‘get down’ with the common people. We meet Matthew Pyke, the theatre director from Hell. A lot of fun is had during the rehearsal scenes which are a master class in parody. The shagging and the shenanigans, mainly expressed through slap-and-tickle use of bananas and melons, start to get a bit limp through repetition. Thankfully, though, the acute character observations hit home more than the party-popper punchlines. Karim has escaped his roots, but his yearning to retrace his steps brings us full circle. Meanwhile, childhood friend and nymphomaniac, Jamila, has been married off to arranged husband Changez (Simon Rivers in brilliant self-deprecating form); while Karim’s first crush, Charlie (a tongue in cheek Tommy Belshaw), has achieved rock star success and made the move to LA… and tragedy. Uncle Anwar and Aunt Jeeta are still getting by at the grocery stall, until Anwar pops his clogs and Jeeta finds a new lease of life (Rina Fatania gives a star performance in a flourish of irreverent self-parody and comic timing).

It is all pinned together with a pulsing soundtrack that takes in the Bee Gees, T. Rex, The Velvet Underground, Bill Withers and Joni Mitchell – among many others. A perfect mixtape that could have been whisked out of a Ford Capri’s cassette player. But beneath the party atmosphere, the darker undercurrents start to slip through – especially in the second act. Racism and violence crescendo from their background drone to become an explicit comment in the narrative. It is evocatively staged, but somehow the reality of its menace doesn’t quite break out of the party mood. Perhaps because all too quickly the show plunges back into celebratory mode with a hastily assembled, feel-good finale.

“Buddha of Suburbia” is a collaboration with the Royal Shakespeare Company, but it seems that Emma Rice has been calling the shots. It is a high-spirited, multi-coloured and absolutely joyous interpretation, that Kureishi is obviously proud of. The Rice magic still sparkles and dazzles, and we leave the theatre with a bounce in our step and a 120bpm inner rhythm coaxing us to raise our arms and punch the air. A terrific night at the theatre.


THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA at the Barbican

Reviewed on 30th October 2024

by Jonathan Evans

Photography by Steve Tanner

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

Previously reviewed at this venue:

KISS ME, KATE | ★★★★ | June 2024
LAY DOWN YOUR BURDENS | ★★★ | November 2023

THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA

THE BUDDHA OF SUBURBIA

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Hull UK City of Culture 2017 – Flood

FLOOD

by James Phillips

 

A YEAR-LONG EPIC

 

• PART ONE: FROM THE SEA – A SHORT FILM PROLOGUE RELEASED ONLINE AND SCREENED ACROSS HULL IN AN AIRSTREAM CARAVAN 

• PART TWO: ABUNDANCE – A LIVE PLAY TO BE PERFORMED 11-15 APRIL IN VICTORIA DOCK

• PART THREE: TO THE SEA – A PLAY TO BE BROADCAST ON BBC TELEVISION IN SUMMER 2017

• PART FOUR: NEW WORLD – A LIVE PLAY TO BE PERFORMED IN VICTORIA DOCK IN OCTOBER 2017

Flood is the story of what happened when the world was destroyed and how the people who lived tried to make it new again.

Flood is an extraordinary year-long epic commissioned for Hull 2017 that will be told online, live in Hull and on BBC television. It is created by the ground-breaking Leeds-based theatre company Slung Low, directed by artistic director Alan Lane and written by award-winning playwright James Phillips.

One day it starts to rain and no-one knows why. And it doesn’t stop. Far out on the North Sea a fisherman raises a girl in his net, miraculously alive from the deep sea. Is she one of the migrants now washing up on English shores? Or someone sent for some higher purpose?

Slung Low make adventures for audiences outside conventional theatre spaces, each with a powerful, moving story at its heart. Flood is their most ambitious and experimental project to date; mixing live performance, special effects, film and digital elements to tell a story across an entire year. The story will be told throughout four compelling parts. People seeing it will be able to experience each section as a stand-alone piece, or follow the entire series with each part enriching and linking to every other.

Alan Lane, artistic director of Slung Low, said:

“Working with Hull 2017 has allowed us to imagine a larger, more engaging adventure for audiences than ever before. Flood is theatrically and politically the most ambitious work we’ve ever made and the chance to tell that story in Hull throughout this most thrilling year for the city is something we’re really excited about.”

Martin Green, Director Hull 2017, said:

“It is wonderful to be working with Slung Low, one of the most brilliant companies in the UK. As we launch our next two seasons Flood embarks us on an extraordinary journey, which over the next months will stimulate, challenge and ask questions of the audience in an epic piece of storytelling.”

Part One: From the Sea

A short film in which the story begins, when a girl is raised from the depths of the sea. Funded by The Space, a commissioning and development organisation that supports artists and organisations to make the most of the opportunities that digital technology and online distribution afford, it can be seen at hull2017.co.uk/flood.

Flood: From the Sea will be played at a number of locations across Hull this week in an airstream caravan. Locations of the screenings include the carparks of the ASDA stores on Hessle Road, Mount Pleasant, Beverley Road and Kingswood; St. Stephens and Beverley Road Tesco stores; Northpoint Shopping Centre and Walton Street Market.

PART ONE – FROM THE SEA

hull2017.co.uk/flood

 

Part Two: Abundance

A live play, in which an apocalypse approaches. Flood: Abundance will be performed in Hull at Victoria Dock from 11 to 15 April, with tickets on sale now. The cast will include Sarah Louise Davies as Kathryn, Nadia Emam as Gloriana, Marc Graham as Sam, Lisa Howard as Natasha, Naveed Khan as Jack, Rani Moorthy as Johanna and Oliver Senton as Captain.

PART TWO – ABUNDANCE

11 – 15 April 2017
Victoria Dock

8pm | £10-12.50

hull2017.co.uk/floodtickets

 

Part Three: To the Sea

A play broadcast on BBC television, in which the English become refugees. Flood: To the Sea is part of a series of programmes for BBC Arts called Performance Live, a two-year project produced in partnership with Arts Council England and Battersea Arts Centre that will challenge a spectrum of exciting artists, producers and arts organisations to produce their own television programmes.

Flood: To The Sea is a story set in the aftermath of an apocalyptic event which has seen England engulfed by water. Flood asks a simple question: what if the fleeing masses from our TV screens and Twitter feeds, in their boats and their orange lifejackets, had English accents? Because displacement is like disease: deep down we think it only happens to other people.

PART THREE – TO THE SEA

Dates of BBC television broadcast TBA

 

Part Four: New World

A live play, in which the world is begun again. To be performed at Victoria Dock in October 2017, with further information to be released.

Flood’s epic adventures come to audiences in Hull and beyond with support from The Space, Arts Council England, BBC Arts and Spirit of 2012.

PART FOUR – NEW WORLD

October 2017
Victoria Dock

Further details to be announced, including ticket prices and performance dates.

 

Flood image by Perry Curties