The Real Ones is Waleed Akhtar's second (soon-to-be) success, following his debut hit The P Word, also at the Bush. Akhtar continues to express his talent with the powerful, witty, and fast-paced dialogue of The Real Ones, excellently directed by Anthony Pike (director of The P Word), who creates a stage that feels autonomous and yet precisely defined.
The Real Ones follows the unbreakable friendship between Zaid (Nathaniel Curtis) and Neelam (Mariam Haque) each testing the limits of the other's, sometimes quite devastating, honesty. Curtis and Haque navigate the breadth of emotional manipulation and fierce nuance with stunning vulnerability. Curtis' sensitive yet robust Zaid causes quiet sadness, while Haque's Neelam traverses the feisty teenager to the world-weary first-time mother superbly, with the full spectrum in between.
Zaid and Neelam are childhood best friends, a concoction of necessity and similarity. We see a beautiful array of young teenage circumstances, from school gossip through to Zaid coming out for the first time. This contrasts with great weight when the stakes of adulthood shift, as does their once solid friendship as it begins to fracture. The Real Ones softly asks the question of whether our oldest or strongest friendships can stand the test of time.
“Life hadn't come for us yet”.
Akhtar's The Real Ones is much more than a conflict of interests. The heart of the story tackles the perplexity of navigating inter-racial marriage within religious conflicting communities; the lack of true diversity within London plays, as artistic directors try to fit Asian stories to fit their programs for white audiences; and the still prevalent homophobic, classist, and racist approaches that cause splinters intergenerationally. Neelam's “British Nigerian” boyfriend Deji (Nnabiko Ejimofor) causes an almost destructive family chasm due to her “British Pakistani” family expectations unmatching those of his own family. Dually, Zaid's relationship with Jeremy (Anthony Howell) causes a greater rift with Neelam, who disapproves of the student-professor relationship mirroring Zaid's past experience with an older man.
The world of the play, travelling space and time is cleverly designed by set and costumer designer Anisha Fields to give fluidity and purpose without distracting from the conflict. Likewise lighting designer Christopher Nairne complements the set with great ease drawing us in to then throw us away to great effect.
The Real Ones is a beautiful and saddening culmination of Waleed Akhtar's great wit and sensitivity combined with the incredible ensemble of talent under the fluid and poignant direction of Anthony Simpson-Pike. A certainly long overdue comment on the feint guise of diversity, and the difficult marrying of culture, race, and sexual identity.
It runs until 19 October.
Review: Sebastian Calver Photo: Helen Muray