Sakina's Restaurant

Synopsis

'Hello, my name is Azgi. I like hamburger, baseball and Mr Bob Dylan. I am the first person in my entire family to fly on an airplane...I hope no crashing.' So begins Azgi's odyssey to the New World, or more specifically to Sakina's Indian Restaurant in Manhattan, in pursuit of his American dream. As well as curries, Azgi serves up laughter, pathos and wisdom and provides hilarious snapshots of his boss and family. Meet Farrida, the restaurateur's wife. She dreamed of being a dancer but now makes chapatti all day, fighting off her amorous husband's advances with floury hands. Meet Hakim, the owner, infuriated by his daughter's American ways, her cheap American clothes and her cool American boyfriends. Meet Sakina. She's dated her clueless boyfriend for two months and he isn't even sure if she's Indian or Iranian. Her best friend's a total bitch and her parents are really on her case. Meet Samir. Glued to his Gameboy, he's in a sulk because his trip to Disney World is cancelled for a funeral in India where the toys are so uncool. A sizzling Broadway phenomenon, Aasif Mandvi as Azgi populates the stage with a tantalising array of colourful characters and will leave you tearful with laughter and in awe of his sheer energy and versatility. Winner of Best Monologist Award 1998 by the New York Press Awards. Winner of two Obie Awards.

Our Review:

26 November 2001

Sakina's Restaurant could be renamed "The pros and cons of emigration". Told through the eyes of a young Azgi - the first privileged Indian from his village to move to the USA - we see a re-evaluation of the American dream and the loss of innocence.

Azgi arrives in the 'Land of Opportunity' and narrates his experiences, and those of his surrogate family who are also immigrants. For all these characters, the reality of the American Dream, with its promise of success and equal opportunity, manifests itself in a different and ultimately disappointing way. We meet the Boss's wife who's restricted by an unknown country, the spoilt baby son unwilling to share his Nintendo with no one, the religious fiancee struggling to reconcile his American experiences with his Indian upbringing, and the Sakina of the title, the betrothed daughter who desperately wants instead to be like her American girlfriends.

All of these are good value, but by far the most poignant and succi...

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