The Great Extension
Theatre Royal Stratford East
***
We have all been there. Woken up the morning after the night before with a sinking sensation that something really terrible has happened. For the play's protagonist Hassan, a second generation Turk who enjoys a champagne-guzzling, bed-hopping, art-collecting bachelor lifestyle, that hazy nightmare becomes a reality when he wakes to discover he has married a Muslim girl while in his drunken stupor. Played with a fitting balance of self-assurance and arrogance by playwright Cosh Omar, the desperate Hassan spins into a comical panic and turns to his flamboyant transgender houseboy Sanjay for advice. Domineering and sharp-tounged, Sanjay, who is executed with bitchy prowess by Raj Ghatak, sashes throughout the chic house in his pink satin gown sharing quips and banter with his master, and Hassan’s ‘everyman’ builder David (Jacob Krichefski), until their reverie is interrupted by the arrival of Hassan’s interfering zenophobic neighbour Mr Brown (Jack Chissick) whom, hell-bent of stopping his extension work, spouts his Daily Mail views to much hilarity.
When the mystery bride (Ruby Visaria) finally surfaces, this microcosm of multi-cultural Britain is further exploited with the arrival of her family. Flanked by her worried father (Amerjit Deu), her wide-boy militant brother (Faraz Ayub) and her female-rights touting, marriage-hungry, hijab-wearing sister (Sharona Sassoon), the comedy turns its attention to poking fun at the common misconceptions held about Islam - namely that a women wearing a hijab can’t speak.
To add to the commotion, Hassan’s parents arrive in the second half, bringing with them their differing Muslim beliefs. It doesn’t take long for fractions to develop, spurred on by the revelation that David the builder is Jewish and the introduction of a politically correct policeman (Ben Bennett). After the high-jinks of the first half, I couldn’t help but feel the play lost it’s way somewhat in the second half, and the message about the laughability of this utopian view of multi-cultural Britain was somewhat drawn-out and overplayed.
In conclusion, with the performances interspersed with snippets from radio news reports on Barack Obama’s trip to Turkey to address the country’s membership of the EU, the greater picture of The Great Extension is hardly subtle, but why should it be? Ultimately, what we have is a tale about the fear of losing our identity through comprise, or, as is reiterated throughout the play, the fear of becoming the 'pacified man', and a celebration of those differences we are so afraid of.
The Great Extension runs at the Theatre Royal Stratford East until Saturday, November 14, 7.30pm. Saturday matinee, 3pm.
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