Theatre Review - Expendable
Lena Kaur (Yasmin) and Avita Jay (Zara) in Expendable ©ISHASHAHPHOTOGRAPHY
IN 2010, a sexual abuse scandal came to light involving hundreds of young girls who had been exploited by child-grooming rings in the north of England. Several of the perpetrators were of Pakistani heritage.
Set a year later in an unnamed town in northern England, Emteaz Hussain’s domestic drama explores the fallout on one British-Pakistani family caught up in a similar scandal.
Zara (Avita Jay) is holed up at home preparing a meal, when her sister Yasmin (Lena Kaur) pays an unexpected visit.
We learn that a local newspaper has wrongfully included Zara’s son, 20-year-old Raheel (Gurjeet Singh), in a photo line-up of men suspected of being part of a predatory gang.
Raheel has been threatened, and the family ostracised by members of the community – excrement is posted through their letterbox.
They know one of the survivors, Jade (Maya Bartley O’Dea), who wants to help clear Raheel’s name. He is clearly traumatised, drifting wordlessly from one room to another, as a violent backlash against Asian men unfolds on the streets outside.
His fiery 18-year-old sister Sofia (Humera Syed) has organised an online campaign with a Muslim group, New Dawn, which attempts to redress the subsequent Islamophobia.
But it is the dynamics between Zara and Yasmin that drive Hussain’s play, and Jade and Raheel’s experiences are only touched upon. Interesting strands about misogyny in the Asian community, and Yasmin’s gay son are introduced but left undeveloped.
Expendable takes place in Zara’s kitchen underlining the domestic realm of women. It’s snappily directed by Esther Richardson, although some baffling lighting changes and too much stage business with mobile phones sap tension.
There’s terrific potential here, and Hussain has a genuinely interesting perspective, but the play would have benefited from a tighter focus.
Until December 21