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 Strictly
Balti
Birmingham Rep Door
****
HAILING from Birmingham, writer and actor
Saikat Ahamed tells us that ‘all our lives are boxes’. In his
hilariously biographical account of growing up in Britain to Bangladeshi
parents, Ahamed relives the stories of his childhood to understand his
own feelings of what it is to be British today.
Strictly Balti is
Ahamed’s story alone. Deeply personal and raw with truthful emotion,
Ahamed explains what happened throughout his childhood when being
British was his own culture, but not the same for his parents.
What do you do when you are Bangladeshi at home
and British at school? In his childhood, the only way Ahamed could link
the two was to lead alternative personalities. Sid and Saikat were one
in Ahamed’s body and the story deals with the struggle of ‘fitting in’,
at school, at home and of course with what identity truly means.
The themes are relatable to anyone with family
residing from other countries. Ahamed uses this universal reflection to
create a one man show rife with humour, peppered with tender personal
accounts of growing up as British Bangladeshi.
Indeed, like most of us, Ahamed’s identity is
influenced by his parents. Throughout the play, Ahamed explains how
Saikat was more prevalent in the presence of his pare nts
and Sid was seen around friends. A cunning plan, but Ahamed did not
necessarily think of the times when both identities had to face each
other.
He the crossover of culture in a fantastically
upbeat way. Christmas was particularly prominent. When talking about
Christmas at school to his friends after the holidays, Sid had every
Christmas present he wanted, when in reality, Saikat received a poetry
book, in a language he could not yet understand.
The significance of Ahamed’s childhood built the
foundations of how his British-Bangladeshi life is formed today. In
Ahamed’s journey we see that this Christmas present is one of the many
bridges of culture that made him understand the sacrifices and sheer
strength of his parents before him.
Saikat Ahamed telling his one man, two life story of a
Brummie with Bangladeshi parents growing up in Britain
Ballroom dancing is the other culture clash and
the main reason for Ahamed’s reflection of his childhood. He talks about
how his Bangladeshi parents wanted him to become ‘British’, so they
enrolled him into ballroom dancing classes ‘because that’s what all the
other English children did’.
His hilarious account of dancing through his
teenage years were wonderfully executed and brilliantly narrated as he
used his remembrance of ballroom dancing to understand what was to be a
teenager, how to keep his dance teacher happy, understand what his
parents wanted and most importantly, how he charmed his first crush.
Ahamed is keen to show the audience his personal
relationship with Bangladesh. Throughout the play, he characterises his
parents with vivid images and physical enactments in what seems to be
for humerous effect towards the start of the play, but it ends up
becoming an avenue with which he is able to come closer to his parents,
especially his father.
In a beautiful sequence filled with depth and
true feelings from the past, Ahamed explains how he felt when he went to
Bangladesh for the funeral of his ‘Bed Granny’. A turning point for
Ahamed’s teenage life, finally saying goodbye to Sid and embracing the
fact that being British means being anybody that he would like to be.
Ahamed’s jovial and funny writing is perfectly
teamed with the direction of Sally Cookson. Together, they show the
audience that being British is to embrace who you are and not do be
defined by the boxes of life.
His story is a story for everyone. Obviously a
hit, I heard audience members talk about how ‘this is how I feel’ and
‘the show was also about me’. Ahamed clearly understands the search for
identity, especially within the young. He takes a light-hearted and
funny approach to his own journey and allows people to see that they can
grow into and become whoever they want, but most importantly, to be
proud of their culture. To 28-11-15
Elizabeth Halpin
26-11-15
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