Sweet Cider
October 27, 2008
Arcola Theatre
22 October - 15 November
Roughly translated Tamasha means commotion or creating a stir, and the company’s new play Sweet Cider at the Arcola, does just that. The fact that this is author Emteaz Hussain’s dramatic debut is even more stirring as it displays a remarkable maturity and lyrical grace.
We are in a city park, strikingly designed by Sue Mayes, atmospherically lit by Natasha Chivers and with an evocative soundscape by Mike Furness. We are addressed by an Asian woman of indeterminate age who is apparently living rough here whilst keeping it tidy, almost as if she can’t shake off the ingrained routines of the domestic environment she has left behind.
She shares the playground with a group of young people, mostly Asian, and all with a reason to seek refuge in the ‘privacy’ of the park. Two young Asian women, who have run away from oppressive or abusive family lives, two young gay men (one white, one Asian) who have to meet there to avoid the prejudice of their families and peers, a would be Muslim ‘gangsta’ and his naïve Sikh girlfriend all pass through this urban oasis and we eavesdrop on their aspirations, frustrations, dilemmas and fears.
The ensemble acting is of a very high standard, particularly from the younger members, their characters are highly engaging and their desperate interactions are at times very funny and at others very moving.
Credit must also go to director Kristine Landon-Smith who uses the difficult Arcola space extremely well whilst shaping and pacing the whole production with deft assurance and sensitivity.
Although this excellent new play deals with topical and serious issues like sexual abuse, cultural intolerance, homophobia, drugs and self-harming it never preaches or condemns and is leavened with humour and great charm.
-Keith Myers
Click here for an interview with Emteaz Hussain.
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