Exploratory play lacks direction

EXTREMELY strong and occasionally very funny performances from the cast of this exploratory play by Paven Virk which I couldn’t help feeling was a little like homeopathy gone wrong. We kept seeing the problems but never really arriving at any sort of resolution.

Except that women - and in this case Asian women - are best equipped to help each other in times of troublesome marriages and quarrelsome in-laws. We begin with meeting beautiful young bride Gurpreet, played by Shalini Peiri, who is excited about the prospect of coming to live with her new husband Raj (Pushpinder Chani) in his castle in Coventry. Okay, so we know she’s in for a bit of a disappointment there - though why should Raj be so non-communicative, if not mad?

Is it because his mother and sisters are really in charge of the household and that while most of the women have been dominated by their menfolk, in Raj’s case, it is the women who rule the roost.

Next we meet Jamila Massey, in her role as aunty number four, with her aspirations to be strong, like Joan Collins in Dynasty. Indeed Joan’s life-size image is kept as a reminder in the refuge where Jamila and the other two aunties live.

I enjoyed Mamta Kaash’s problems with getting to grips with English and Shelley King’s confused ramblings against the extra screen backdrop which really added to the small stage. But where was it all going? And, despite the flashes of humour, why did it take so long to get there?

Verdict: Overlong and unfocused.

Barbara Goulden