Browse > Home / Reviews / Pretend You Have Big Buildings- Promising

Pretend You Have Big Buildings- Promising

July 29, 2007

Pretend You Have Big Buildings - Royal Exchange Theatre - Review

Pretend You Have Big Buildings is the Bruntwood award winner and as a result, is currently playing to enthusiastic audiences at the Royal Exchange. The writer Ben Musgrave has crafted an interesting story which encompasses, racism, sexuality, thatcherism and multiculturalism. These topics are bought to life by an extremely talented cast.

Danny (Sacha Dhawan) does not fit in, he lives in Romford but is from India. Leon (Jonathan Bailey) is from Romford but struggles to live up the the ‘male Londoner’ that he father expects him to be. Meanwhile Danny’s mum (Shobna Gulati) misses India as she attempts to move on, following the death of her husband.

All of these plot developments are handled with real confidence by Musgrave, you know that this talented writer’s tale is coming from his heart. The stage set by Jamie Todd is simply stunning and as two characters literally fly onto the stage at the beginning, you are aware of how ‘big’ Musgrave’s story is.

The problem is that there are simply too many ideas for a two hour play. We see a cross dressing teen, a love affair, redundancy, racism and then some. Each topic jostles for your attention, giving the play a televisual feel. I felt at times, like I was watching the opening episode of a soap opera.

That said, Musgrave has a keen ear for witty dialogue and many os his characters really do engage. His writing though sometimes lapses into cliche, so you hear characters spouting lines that smack of ‘this is a play.’ One character says: “This is 1995, you can be who you wanna be.” This simply does not ring true, and one scene featuring an Asian mum accompanying a drunken lad to a night club just seems ridiculous.

The look of the play though is quite filmic, with running water, flashing lights and set pieces being lowered from the ceiling regularly.

Dhawan is excellent as confused Danny displaying a real gift for comedy. Bailey is also brilliant as lost boy, Leon. Gulati gives her usual assured performance, giving the script depth. Some of the accents veer into Catherine Tate territory, Susan Twist sounds just like Nana- but overall this is an authentic piece.

The writing is far from medicore and many of the themes engage you. But Sarah Frankcom and Jo Combes direction although quite beautiful at times, should have ironed out the muddled feel.

For a first play though, this is a piece to be proud of and there is much to like here.

Pretend You Have Big Buildings continues until 4 August.

www.royalexchange.co.uk

Filed Under Reviews 

Comments

Comments are closed.