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Out of Sorts

Theatre503

Reviewed – 14th October 2019

★★★★

“Samal’s smart, insightful script cares deeply about its characters”

Out of Sorts is the winner of Theatre503’s International Playwriting Award 2018. Written by Danusia Samal, it tells the story of Zara, a young woman caught between two cultures. Raised Muslim in London, when Zara got to university she quickly learned to adapt in order to fit in with her overwhelmingly white classmates. Now living with her best friend and flatmate Alice, Zara is the typical millennial: she parties, she drinks, and she wants more from life than marriage to a Muslim man. On the other hand, when she visits her family, she reverts to the good Muslim daughter, wearing her hijab at dinner and saying the prayers. On the surface it may seem that Zara has it all worked out, and it’s simply a matter of code switching. But the truth is that identity is messy, and the stress of being split in two this way, between two worlds, neither of which fully accept her, has its cost.

Directed by Tanuja Amarasuriya, Out of Sorts is a heartfelt story of identity and belonging. Samal’s smart, insightful script cares deeply about its characters, all of whom are layered and complicated. Samal shows impressive skill in her ability to balance lightness in her writing with the heaviness of her subjects. The play, which confronts racism, privilege, mental health, and eating disorders, is also touching, delightful, and laugh out loud funny. And although the script may allow itself a few too many speeches, the show never feels long.

Myriam Acharki (Layla, Zara’s mother), is particularly deft in her grasp of her character’s sadness and pain, but also her quite sly sense of humour. Nayef Rashed (Hussein, Zara’s father), likewise brings much of the comedy to the play. Oznur Cifci nails the part of Zara’s sharp-witted, ‘hood rat’ little sister Fatima. Nalân Burgess (Zara) gives a good portrayal of someone barely holding things together. Emma Denly (Alice) is spot on as Zara’s well-intended but privileged and condescending flatmate. Claudius Peters (Anthony) is earnest and convincing as Alice’s boyfriend, who is unfortunate enough to get caught in the avalanche of the girls’ collapsing relationship.

The show has one set, which is used to portray both Zara and Alice’s upmarket flat, and Zara’s family’s council estate flat. What may seem like not an ideal choice, made to accommodate Theatre503’s small space, works better than you might think. A change in lighting (Ali Hunter) is surprisingly effective in morphing the atmosphere. The characters from Zara’s two worlds often overlap in the room, which suggests that perhaps Zara isn’t doing as well as she thinks at keeping her two identities apart.

Out of Sorts makes a powerful argument for open and truthful communication, no matter how difficult it may be. All of Zara’s secrets that she keeps from her friends and family, and her attempt to handle her problems alone, result in a huge mess, both literally and figuratively. The play is clever in getting us to re-examine our own perspectives, and remember that what we see of someone’s life is never the full story. Samal is loving, perceptive, and precise in her championing of people from two cultures who feel like they don’t belong to either. It’s important now more than ever to centre stories like Zara’s. Don’t miss this hugely enjoyable, eye-opening show.

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Photography by Helen Murray

Out of Sorts

Theatre503 until 2nd November

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Isaac Came Home From the Mountain | ★★★★ | May 2018

Caterpillar | ★★★★ | September 2018

The Art of Gaman | ★★★★ | October 2018

Hypocrisy | ★★★½ | November 2018

Cinderella and the Beanstalk | ★★★★ | December 2018

The Amber Trap | ★★★ | April 2019

A Partnership | ★★★ | October 2019

Click here to see our most recent reviews

★★★

“a poignant look into modern gay relationships”

As the theatre lights dim, the couple in Rory Thomas-Howes’ A Partnership stumble in, tipsy from celebrating the birthday of Ally (Ben Hadfield) with his workmates at the pub. However, the pair are bickering rather than joyous as they start to unpack items into their new house from the boxes that litter the stage, provoked by an interaction between Zach (Rory Thomas-Howes) and a local at the pub. With an hour to go before Ally turns thirty, the couple’s conversation turns from superficial worries about Ally’s resistance to leaving his twenties to deeply intimate matters as it becomes clear their partnership is fragile and brittle. As their relationship is unboxed throughout the play, the overarching theme of Zach’s internalised homophobia becomes clear, where he is evidently struggling with the pressure from both the heteronormative world to have a perfect relationship with a clear future set out, and the modern gay man’s world where he perceives the main focus to be on sex, and monogamy is non-existent.

The play is presented as a straight one-hour dialogue between the two men in a tragi-comedy style, with no change in scene or staging. The comedic elements to the play were witty and quick, and Hadfield’s fast delivery brought life to the interaction between the couple. The piece also had an emotional depth owing to Thomas-Howes’ writing, depicting thoughts and emotions about internalised homophobia with precision and accuracy, likely due to the actor and writer’s own self-described queer identity. Although there was a good overall balance between the funny and the serious, the transition between the two was confusing, where the tone would go from moments of light-heartedness into seriousness frequently. This led at times to some lack of sincerity of the characters’ feelings and added a sense of melodrama to an otherwise believable story. That aside, the play was generally well directed by Josh Tucker.

Ally and Zach’s relationship did not feel completely realistic due to their differences in personality and an overt clash between Ally’s outgoing and “feminine” traits and Zach’s more reserved and “straight-acting” character. However, the expectations for gay men to behave as traditional couples with masculine and feminine partners is discussed throughout the story. Hadfield as Ally was a clear standout, giving a hilarious performance when the writing required and a stunningly captivating delivery during emotional scenes, whereas Thomas-Howes was less convincing as Zach, almost overacting at times. However, the performance otherwise provided a poignant look into modern gay relationships.

Reviewed by Philip Coatsworth

Photography by Nick Mauldin

Theatre503

Reviewed – 14th October 2019

★★★★

“Samal’s smart, insightful script cares deeply about its characters”

Reviewed by Addison Waite

Photography by Helen Murray

Out of Sorts

Theatre503 until 2nd November

Last ten shows reviewed at this venue:

Theatre503

Reviewed – 1st October 2019

★★★

“a poignant look into modern gay relationships”

Reviewed by Philip Coatsworth

Photography by Nick Mauldin

A Partnership

Theatre503 until 5th October

Previously reviewed at this venue:

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