Image credit Geraint Lewis
Written by Karim Khan
Directed by John Hoggarth
CONTACT THEATRE
Two Sixth Formers hang out together and chat about girls, pecs, beards, Uni plans and their favourite sweets. This coming of age story features two equally likable mates who have known each other from primary school. One has the unbridled enthusiasm of a labrador puppy and is obsessed with his appearance and fitting in with the cool kids. The other is more serious and cautious…heading towards a good Oxbridge degree and a successful career that will support a wife and family. On surface level these boys are chalk and cheese, on a more significant level they are both Muslim boys living in Oxford watching their peers punting on the river while neither can actually swim. Karim Khan has written a perceptive, poignant and funny play that address the experience of many young Muslim men as they try to carve out their own identity in multicultural Britain today.
Winner of a Fringe First and the 2022 BBC Popcorn Writing award, Brown Boys Swim has had sell-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe and more recently at Soho Theatre. This tour features lead performances from two recent graduates who are both excellent as Kash and Mohsen. Kashif Ghole and Ibraheem Hussain are very natural in their roles and complement each other beautifully whether teasing and sparring or holding up a mirror to each others personal struggles. There is a lot of charm and humour in their exchanges as they play off each other. The darker elements are subtly shaded in as a trip to buy swimming trunks results in a security guard assuming they are shop lifters or a much looked forward to invite to a pool party is based on the assumption that they will provide drugs rather than Hahal haribos. The most poignant touch is the knowledge that Kash never learned to swim because in primary school he was having special needs teaching instead of swimming lessons with the other kids simply because English was not his first language. None of these aspects of the story are preachy but each gently touches on the slow drip drip of everyday racism. The final dénouement is so sudden that it almost risks losing the potency it should have but it is still a painful reminder of wasted potential and a life curtailed by cultural ignorance and unhelpful stereotyping.
This a beautifully staged production with clever and inspired design by James Button, lighting by James Bailey and a soundscape by Roshan Gunga. They combine to bring a leisure centre poolside and its changing rooms vividly to life. This is incredibly effective and gives the whole production a real sense of energy and drama. There is a great deal to enjoy in this production but there is also a reminder that growing up and finding your path in life is hard for any of us in any culture but we owe it to all our children to do better and be kinder.
Live Art Alive 