Review of a much anticipated play which is playing in Birmingham before it comes to London nextβ¦. As a child of the s myself, born and bred in Birmingham, I felt I was transported back in time and could easily recognise what made up the stage set β six back to back Victorian terraced houses, a washing line outside the back door, several tyres and a ripped car seat.
It appeared warm, homely and provoked an era of days gone by, when communities appeared to be more close knit and ready to help others when the need arose. Stevie Wonder, T Rex and Slade played in the background, which created just the right amount of mood and ambience of the time. The first half of this play is light-hearted, the humour contained and references made which appeared to have some relevance to today.
For example, one of the characters, a young hippy called Ned played by Tarek Merchant, states how very fashionable beards are for the time! Although the story is based on the developing friendship between the two young girls, there is an undercurrent of racism and prejudice through the play. Words which were very much in common use back then were used to highlight how things were then.
Some even drew a gasp or two from the audience. There was an element that we as a minority accepted this and, we acknowledged how different people spoke or treated us, but it was not something many drew attention to or resisted actively. Today, the use of those very same words would create tension, friction, race wars and possible litigation. In Act Two, the storyline delved into the burgeoning prejudices of the characters and depicted the changing socio-political viewpoints.
The humour seemed to have lessened and the racism was more apparent. Sam represents the more aggressive side of racism which was rising at the time with bovver boys, skin heads and DM boots. This was balanced out by the opinions expressed by Mrs Worrall, who although she was the eldest character, appeared to be the more liberal and accepting of the differences. As the scenes unfolded, I immediately felt I had a strong connection to the themes and issues raised, not least because I became quite nostalgic, but also because Meera and Tanika had captured the realism of the day.
