A brave choice of topic, a well-presented story, with some brilliant acting.
“Do you know what that’s like not knowing whether your child is going to make it?”
Favour revolves around three generations of a Muslim family living in London: a daughter (Leila, played by Ashna Rabheru), a mother (Aleena, played by Avita Jay), and a grandmother (Noor, played by Ren Brindle). The story begins when Aleena, is released from prison and comes back to her mother and daughter. Nonetheless, her high hopes for a fresh start with her daughter are crashed by unexpected events and misjudgements.
Prior to the start of the show, when reading the synopsis of the play, the first thing that attracted my attention was the subject of it. Women with lived experience of the Criminal Justice System. The combination of this topic with the themes of religion, patriarchy, and mental health, I think, is quite sensitive to navigate around. Choosing this topic, in my opinion, requires so much bravery and courage. The story was developed well, with plot twists that were smartly placed, and the proper suspense and foreshadowing. However, towards the end of the play, when I was enjoying watching the characters growing into humans, the story ended and left me wanting for more. After an argument, suddenly characters decided to listen to each other, came to their senses, accepted their mistakes, and settled on an agreement that wouldn’t harm anyone. A happy ending that was a bit of a cop-out-choice.
The show itself had a relatively well-paced tempo for the most parts, to which a subtle and consistent sense of humour contributed a lot. You would burst into laughter one minute and be hit by a harsh truth the next (or sometimes even at the same time!). Nevertheless, even though I saw some brilliant acting, I believe there was still room for more depth in the portrayal and more personalised and unique traits (for example, the daughter of the family, Leila, who suffers from anxiety, PTSD, and panic disorder, does not show traces of them in her behaviour). To put it another way, although the story was clearly and perfectly told through the dialogues that took place between the characters, I also would like it to be “shown” to me through acting.
In terms of the visuals, the set of Favour was quite self-explanatory. Everything was ready for the audience to take in and digest, to an extent that it could tell the story on its own, if you looked closely: the pictures hanging on the wall, giving you a background of the family, and the biggest of them telling you which members are the most favoured ones. Islamic prayers and The Quran verses all over the house, suggesting a religious household, and the not-too-expensive furniture giving hints to the family’s income rate. However, it did not leave any room for the audience’s imagination.
Last but not least, it was a neatly-directed drama, with a pinch of comedy, which had a lot to say, and yet, there was more potential to it to be fulfilled.