A poignant exploration of the young Muslim experience & friendship at its purest form
Kash and Mohsen are best friends. Always have been. And like many South Asian teenagers, they can’t swim. They were being taught English when the other children were allowed to go and have swimming lessons. They’ve never really given it too much thought, until they receive news that Jess’ 18th birthday is coming up… and it’s a pool party. It’s the biggest social event of the calendar, but they can’t go if they can’t swim.
Thus… the challenge is set. The boys tread the streets of Oxford, with haribos in their bag and their brother by their side, trying desperately to navigate a world they perpetually feel isolated from.
Karim Khan’s Brown Boys Swim, is a sensational piece of storytelling, delving into the young Muslim experience during a time where racism was rife in England. It touched on many aspects of said experience, without feeling the need to shove it onto the audience. The themes of racism, adolescence and friendship were explored with tenderness, subtlety and playfulness, and is a testament to the beautiful writing from Khan. The bouncy dialogue between the boys provided a much needed shed of humour which brightened up the dark subject matter beautifully.
The tempo was phenomenal, with fantastic movement direction from Sita Thomas. With slick and swaying transitions, the actors moved the set themselves. Nothing but a moveable platform and two benches, but there was no limit to what this set could become – the bench became a weight, a seat on a bus… the possibilities were endless. The direction from John Hoggarth is to be applauded. The pacing of the piece was perfect: ebbing and flowing through the story, which reaches its tragic ending, when we discover that Kash drowned after trying to swim in a lake nearby. Quiet gasps whispered its way through the audience as the twist unravelled itself.
The sound design from Roshan Gunga, is also worth a very notable mention. It perfectly created the world of the swimming pool, and you could see the water without it actually needing to be present on stage.
The world building is also a testament to the fiercely funny and adoring performances from Kashif Ghole (Kash) and Ibraheem Hussain (Mohsen). The enigmatic connection the actors had was phenomenal to watch, the energy between them was so palpable. The love and care the characters had for each other even in times of struggle was marvellous. The boys knew they would be able to endure whatever came their way because they had their brother by their side, ready to get the other out of harm’s way.
A particularly poignant part of the story: the boys getting searched at the shopping centre when they were innocently shopping for swimming gear for the party. The security guard had no cause to search them, other than the way they looked. This undercurrent of racism is a tragic reality that many still face, and is still very underrepresented on our stages. Therefore, Brown Boys Swim is important. It is more than entertaining, it is pumping with life force and heart, and needs to be seen by all.