The Arches, Glasgow
3 stars
Two off-duty policemen mull over the dead Brazilian they shot dead on London Underground in the mistaken belief he was a terrorist. A Muslim taxi driver at the end of his tether is tempted into extreme measures. The Muslim, Parvez, and one of the policemen, Tony, are haunted by ghosts late at night as external pressures attempt to force their hands. When worlds eventually collide on a late-night cab ride, the blast looks unavoidable.
So it goes in Indian born poet Raman Mundair’s new play, clearly drawn from the real life police shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes and with nods too to the recent Glasgow Airport attack. It’s a tense two-way split of a play which looks at the human cost of mistaken ideals as much as mistaken identity, as Simon Rivers gives an understatedly accomplished turn as Parvez, mirrored effectively by Robert Jack’s Tony and a supporting cast featuring decent turns from Lewis Howden and Maryam Hamidi.
There are times when the parallels between Parvez and Tony look too ideologically and poetically pat, yet, portentous title aside, there’s a stripped-down elegance pulsing through Mundair’s text. Even so, the close-up feel of Jo Ronan’s small-scale production can’t help but betray the fact that it would be served far better on the small screen than onstage.
As the slew of Edinburgh Fringe shows mining such material has also made clear, plays covering similar ground have long been common-place. Considering the political credentials they continue to claim, the company currently trading as 7:84 Scotland have hit on this surprisingly late in the day in a production which wisely steers well clear of any associated moral high ground.
The Herald, September 10th 2007
ends.
3 stars
Two off-duty policemen mull over the dead Brazilian they shot dead on London Underground in the mistaken belief he was a terrorist. A Muslim taxi driver at the end of his tether is tempted into extreme measures. The Muslim, Parvez, and one of the policemen, Tony, are haunted by ghosts late at night as external pressures attempt to force their hands. When worlds eventually collide on a late-night cab ride, the blast looks unavoidable.
So it goes in Indian born poet Raman Mundair’s new play, clearly drawn from the real life police shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes and with nods too to the recent Glasgow Airport attack. It’s a tense two-way split of a play which looks at the human cost of mistaken ideals as much as mistaken identity, as Simon Rivers gives an understatedly accomplished turn as Parvez, mirrored effectively by Robert Jack’s Tony and a supporting cast featuring decent turns from Lewis Howden and Maryam Hamidi.
There are times when the parallels between Parvez and Tony look too ideologically and poetically pat, yet, portentous title aside, there’s a stripped-down elegance pulsing through Mundair’s text. Even so, the close-up feel of Jo Ronan’s small-scale production can’t help but betray the fact that it would be served far better on the small screen than onstage.
As the slew of Edinburgh Fringe shows mining such material has also made clear, plays covering similar ground have long been common-place. Considering the political credentials they continue to claim, the company currently trading as 7:84 Scotland have hit on this surprisingly late in the day in a production which wisely steers well clear of any associated moral high ground.
The Herald, September 10th 2007
ends.
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