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Two Billion Beats (NHB Modern Plays)

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The function of heroes within an intrinsically racist society once again arises in Asha’s own relationship with Gandhi. She wonders whether her teacher is more comfortable with her writing critically on Gandhi and Ambedkar, ‘two brown dudes’, than on revered British heroine-figures the Pankhursts. This does not deter Asha, however, from adding Sylvia Pankhurst’s work to the mix as she strives to find her own political voice. In Bhattacharyya’s entertaining play, two teenage sisters negotiate the battlefield of school while learning about the political battlefields of the past.” The Stage on Two Billion Beats as part of Inside/Outside Two Billion Beats, Sonali Bhattacharyya’s new play for the Orange Tree, draws us in with snappy lines and raucous energy before delivering an emotional wallop. The return of this exhilarating production following its acclaimed world premiere at the OT in 2022. Two Billion Beats follows Asha (Safiyya Ingar), a bright sixth former set on attending SOAS, as her assignments lead her to discover the work of Dalit lawyer and activist B.R. Ambedkar and begin to question her mother’s idolisation of Mahatma Gandhi. Meanwhile, Asha navigates school bullying and racism along with her younger sister, Bettina (Anoushka Chadha).

Seventeen-year-old Asha is an empathetic rebel, inspired by historical revolutionaries and iconoclasts Sylvia Pankhurst and B R Ambedkar. She’s unafraid of pointing out the hypocrisy around her but less sure how to actually dismantle it. Conscientious and questing, she may have just got excellent marks for her history essay but, in her mother’s eyes she has committed an unpardonable slander in daring to criticise the Mahatma; if anything should be untouchable, it is his reputation. Not so, argues Ascha; the proper object of admiration should be none other than a Dalit, B. R. Ambedkar, who played a crucial role in drafting the Indian constitution. Unfortunately this has massively pissed off her mum, which is why we findAsha killing time after school until her mum’s nightshift begins. Meanwhile, it becomes apparent Bettina has problems of her own: some kids have been bullying her on the bus home, and she’s clinging to Asha in the hope her big sister might lamp her oppressors.Asha leads the performance, and it is her youthful earnestness, intelligence and curiosity that captures the heart of this play. One of the highlights takes place in the first ten minutes, as Asha describes to us how she structured her argument in an essay about Gandhi and Ambedkar, as though it is a boxing match. There are several moments in the play when we are moved from the day-to-day life of Asha and Bettina to Asha’s internal monologue. This helps the pace of the play and although it does feel like the piece loses some momentum towards the final section, the last moments are powerful, and the erupting applause was well deserved. The set itself is relatively simple, with the lighting and sound effects transporting the action to a dingy bus stop or a childhood bedroom. They also use smartphones to great effect, whether it’s Bettina showing pictures of the much sought-after hamster to her sister, or Asha being caught out – she’s not listening to Stormzy, she’s listening to an audio book about Sylvia Pankhurst. The two actors have a nice, sparky chemistry together: Chadha is sweet and Ingar is sassy but there’s a real easy warmth between them and a sense of their care for each other. Be ready for a lot of laughs, bring your siblings! Have those conversations and please just have fun. The last thing I want is for people to think this play is just about this deep social political commentary. It’s not just that, it’s about a deep familial relationship, it’s about competitiveness, about sibling rivalry, about school kids, Tik Tok, it’s all there. Come and have fun with us!

Safiyya Ingar is an energetic Asha; fiercely intelligent and bursting with energy and indignation at the unfairness of life. The character embraces all the idealism of youth with an uncompromising commitment to her principals, exasperated with what she sees as injustice and double standards in the world. Ingar is spirited and brimming with energy; she shows defiance and pride, but also snippets of vulnerability, especially regarding her sometimes fractious relationship with her mother. There are articles in the show’s programme about B. R. Ambedkar (1891-1956), an Indian social reformer who spoke out against discriminatory policies affecting what were then known as ‘the Untouchables’ within Indian society, and about Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960), a British campaigner for the suffragette movement. The storyline makes clear why some biographical details are set out, and there are some interesting outcomes on Asha’s part as she tries to apply what she’s learned to her own circumstances. The elder girl, Ascha, has a problem nearer home; at home, in fact. It is her mother. While Ascha is a clever and motivated student, she has offended her deeply by daring to take issue with Gandhi. What will happen, their mother wonders, if – or rather when – the history being studied is British rather than Indian, and such revered figures as the Pankhursts fall under Ascha’s rebellious scrutiny. I know so many people, not just women, whatever your gender, if you’re part of the diaspora community, come and see this. You’ll have something from your own community that will reflect and ping out as an argument you constantly need to have, or a slur you’re constantly called, or a question you’re constantly confronted with about Britain’s history. We are now really having these frank conversations about how distressing they were, how disgusting they were, how they created generational trauma. And it isn’t going to just wash away – this denial of the British empire and what they did to our countries and these communities, it needs to be spoken about, and attitudes need to change! How have rehearsals been going so far?

The minimalist stage of the Orange Tree Theatre lends itself beautifully to the play’s primary setting: the bus stop where the sisters wait after school. An indicator board gives the times of the next buses as they argue and banter, talking over their experiences at school, political figures, racism and Islamophobia. The setting gives these scenes an authenticity: the bus stop, and mundane outdoor spaces more generally, are familiar spaces of teenage reflection, particularly when contrasted with a tense or claustrophobic home environment. Seeing my character, Asha, a South Asian female-identifying character go through this journey herself, and with what happens in the play, she comes out the other side of it with her own voice still intact – it’s one of the best things I’ve ever read to be honest. It’s refreshing to see, and representative of what I wish I was like at seventeen. I’m like what Asha is in the play now, and I wish I was like her when I was that age. I would have gotten so much done. This is the kind of story that I want people to hear. Every part of me was screaming out to tell this story because people need to hear it. How does the play reflect growing up in Britain as a South Asian woman of colour?

In fact, Asha’s own passionate desire to do the right thing is so strong that it takes over the plotting of the final third of the play, which becomes increasingly unconvincing despite the charm and humour of the writing. A sharper dose of realism would have worked better, and made the anti-racist strand much stronger. Still, there is much to enjoy in the playwright’s depiction of the two girls, their sibling banter, and their delight in standing up to bullies, especially the heart-warming dance sequence to Cardi B’s “Money” – a moment of pure joy.

Ultimately the play is rather let down by a degree of early-career shakiness. For starters, it’s weird to explicitly set it in Leicester and not bother with Leicester accents. A laboured attempt to indict Asha’s teacher of Karen-ist hypocrisy feels like it’s been approached completely wrongly (it hinges on the idea Emmeline Pankhurst is as big a sacred cow as Gandhi). And the bullying saga spirals out of control in a way that serves Asha‘s newfound philosophical beliefs well, but is, to be blunt, totally ridiculous. Recently reviewed at this venue: Rice | ★★★★ | October 2021 While the Sun Shines | ★★★★ | November 2021 I ought to have kept a tally of the number of times ‘like’ and ‘dude(s)’ were used in this one-act play – and who gets a ‘B plus’ for A-level coursework these days? Asha’s trusty headphones are wired, and while I don’t doubt there are still some youngsters who have wired headphones, most of them I see have wireless ones. That is, if they have them at all: smartphones appear to be the new ghettoblasters. Sonali Bhattacharyya's play Two Billion Beats is an insightful, heartfelt coming-of-age story and a blazing account of inner-city, British-Asian teenage life. It was originally presented in the Inside/Outside season, livestreamed from the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, before receiving a production there in this full-length version in 2022, directed by Nimmo Ismail. Bouncing with wit, Sonali Bhattacharyya’s upbeat play is a coming-of-age story about the unfairness of growing up in a world where you don’t make the rules. Sonali Bhattacharyya was 2018 Channel 4 writer in residence at the OT, where she wrote Chasing Hares, winning the Sonia Friedman Production Award and Theatre Uncut Political Playwriting Award, produced at the Young Vic in 2022.

Director Nimmo Ismail; Designer Debbie Duru; Lighting Designer Alex Fernandes; Sound Designer Tingying Dong; Movement Director Chi-San Howard; Associate Movement Director Tian Brown-Sampson; Casting Director Christopher Worrall. The play features frequent cutaways and introspective soliloquies delivered by its lead, Asha (Shala Nyx). These are often followed by the loudspeakers serenading us with the dulcet tones of B R Ambedkar and Sylvia Pankhurst. In contrast Bettina (Tanvi Virmani), delivers a refreshing comedic reprieve with a delicate touch. Both actors bring strong, lively performances and successfully convey the source material engagingly. A two-handed coming of age story set in the round, about many things, but most notably accepting the nuanced flaws of individuals. Written by young award-winning playwright Sonali Bhattacharyya, the play maintains her focus on illuminating the stories of the marginalised and democratising dramatization. It delves into numerous topical and ethical questions of morality and our selection of role models. It aims to prescribe and confront too many contemporary societal issues, sometimes without forming the full necessary space for their exploration. Bouncing with wit, Sonali Bhattacharyya’s upbeat new play is a coming-of-age story about the unfairness of growing up in a world where you don’t make the rules. A blazing account of inner city British-Asian teenage life, this exhilarating world premiere asks what the cost of speaking up really is.

Editorial content

This timely and thoughtful new play from Sonali Bhattacharyya…compellingly shows that the stakes can be high when people – especially women – from a diaspora community raise their voices” WhatsOnStage The relationship between the siblings is very believable and the chemistry between the actors is palpable; the younger sister wants sympathy and validation from her older sibling, who rejects her and finds her annoying. It is a very recognisable scenario. With just the two on-stage characters, there’s a lot of exposition rather than dramatization, and a lot of recollections of events that had already taken place. I think the actors would have been more than capable of personifying, for instance, the siblings’ mother, or at least some of the other pupils they regularly interact with, whether constructively and positively or not. I’m not sure the inclusion of an actual hamster, albeit in a suitable cage, added much to proceedings, though there are, at least, no concerns over animal welfare to report. Directed by Nimmo Ismail, whose work includes Glee & Me by Stuart Slade and The Christmas Star by Russell T Davies (both Royal Exchange Manchester), Fragments by Cordelia Lynn and My England by Somalia Seaton (both at Young Vic), and SNAP by Danusia Samal (The Old Vic).

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