Rabiah Hussain’s punchy play reveals how words become weaponised.
The opening scene, set in 10 ’s press office, is like an episode of The Thick Of It.
The prime minister has said something deeply dodgy on live TV and the comms team are in meltdown as they attempt to spin the out of trouble.
‘Look up synonyms for “sorry”,’ cries one aide, desperately.
This is the opening salvo of a production constructed from quick-fire exchanges between unnamed characters in stressful situations.
Many of them have been damaged by words – or are attempting to repair the harm caused by them.
Most movingly, a girl describes how her father’s expression hides the cracks caused by hurtful utterances.
The implied context is usually racism, but because the offending words are rarely revealed, Hussain’s writing cleverly forces the audience to fill in the gaps.
This is why the best passages of this well-acted production of 80 uninterrupted minutes, directed by Nimmo Ismail, reveal the effect of language instead of dwelling on the offending articles themselves.
However, the play falters where the injustices are obvious and spelled out. A mother’s monologue is one example.
It describes how the UK authorities accuse her of fomenting extremism in her daughter simply by allowing the girl to speak the language of her grandparents and visit them in the (no doubt Muslim) country in which they live.
But despite that clunkiness, the evening fizzes along with thought-provoking and explosive examples of how even innocuous words can do damage.
So think very carefully before you compliment someone as being ‘different’.
is performing Upstairs at the , London until Sat 26 August.
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