Naima Khan reviews Rachel De-lahay's tense new play that boasts superb depictions of an effective mix of blunt and complicated characters dealing with racial tensions in south London.
When the woman in front of me suddenly stops chatting and starts screaming about her stolen handbag, director Clint Dyer emphasises the need to be on high alert in the world of The Westbridge. His staging hammers the point home with his audience sitting in the middle of the room while the action reveals itself in sharp bursts around us. We twist and turn in our seats to see where the heated arguments and sporadic violence will happen next. Scene changes strike like lightening flashes and Katharine Williams' lighting design outshines Ultz's surprisingly simplistic set, leaving us with no idea what we'll face when the lights come up.
A community in crisis is the general picture. The alleged rape of an Asian girl by a group of black guys sets tensions alight, but also reveals a deep-seated sense of right, wrong and neighbourliness within the individuals lumped together on The Westbridge. In this sense, there is something inspiring about the world through playwright Rachel De-lahay's eyes. People get along without getting caught up in the lack of politically correct language, and they challenge their own prejudices daily, but little change is made to the big picture.
Shopkeeper Saghir (a hilariously naturalistic Paul Bhattacharjee) claims he doesn't make much of an effort to differentiate between the black boys that come into his shop, but has a heart-warming sense of empathy for his neighbour, the mother of one of his less honest customers. But his empathy is quiet and he struggles to express it, as we see when he meets Marcus, the mixed race boyfriend of his Anglo-Pakistani daughter Soriya.
De-lahay covers an impressive amount of ground with a great mix of contrasting characters, including George, a knowing Daisy Lewis as Soriya's loud but affable white friend whose frankness and left-wing ideals are more accepted by the Asian family she elbows her way into than her own. Through her we get the most meaningful discussion of arranged and interracial marriages and in George's scenes, De-lahay is at her best as she uses a blunt character to make a blunt point.
But other characters are too functional. Soriya for example starts off content but reveals her confusion suddenly and unconvincingly. Her key turning point comes after comments from a nameless old neighbour, whose brief, unsophisticated argument places part of the blame for the alleged attack on Soriya's relationship with Marcus. In a way it shows the fragility of Soriya's conviction but on stage it feels too simplistic.
Elements of this play are electric – particularly the performances from Ryan Calais Cameron and Fraser Ayres, who both master the body language required to express their frustration where the dialogue is rightly absent. Along with De-lahay, they pose questions to individual members of the audience as well as society as a whole. But the identity crises explored in this play needs to arise more naturally, so it doesn't just feel like a series of check boxes that need to be ticked.
The Westbridge runs at Bussey Bulding until 19th November and then at Royal Court Theatre until 23rd December.
Image by Keith Pattison
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