A child’s review – Britain’s search for Asia with tensions between kindness and anger | Theater

THalder’s dramatic new one-man play tells the story of a British Asian boy, AK, who grows up in Britain and experiences the most brutal experiences of racism: bullying in the playground; casual jibes at work; parents who are no longer safe in their family home. And in the middle of it all: a funny and sensitive person, struggling to find himself and broken in two.

This is very impressive but there are also some problems. It sounds like there’s a direct drama lurking in here but we’ve just been given too much. AK spends his youth growing up on an unnamed “Island” and later moves to the city, where he lives in a dark room on Seven Sisters Road. There are few references to Walkmans as a child and, later, references to the murder of Jean Charles de Menezes but the writing oscillates between a nightmare and something more grounded and political.

We see the most important people in AK’s life – his parents from India, his childhood sweetheart Katie, and the local bully Max – flicker in wonder. His father is abused by his patients and he is not angry but he feels sad; his loving mother advises her son from the bottom of her heart but also treats him maliciously; and friend Katie change AK’s life and then, after a very small argument, he disappears for good. All these people are interesting. All undercooked.

It can make for a very frustrating watch and yet there are raw recordings – both romantic and aggressive, restrained and melodic – that feel very special. Annie Kershaw’s performance is impressive and captivating and Rajiv Pattani’s brilliant visuals change her appearance and location, flying all over the place, instantly.

In its first episode, Amar Chadha-Patel’s performance has a sense of restraint and freedom to do so, even if it requires discipline (the show runs for 90 minutes). Playing softly with the audience and always understating himself, his character is suspicious, sympathetic and aggressive. He is a man on the edge. A man who can “live symphonies” – only if he finds his place in the world that seems to surround him.