UP-AND-COMING actors Rishi Manuel and Zaynah Ahmed make their panto debut with Aladdin, a story they said holds a “special place” in the hearts of south Asian communities.
In recent years, Disney has been on a mission to venture into new cultures with films such as Wish, Encanto, Raya and the Last Dragon, Coco and Moana.
It was 31 years ago that Aladdin broke the mould of the archetypal Disney princess, with the character of Jasmine becoming the first princess of colour from the iconic film studio.
Aladdin was set in a hybrid Middle Eastern-south Asian world and featured predominately characters from an ethnic minority background.
Manuel, 23, who is of mixed Gujarati and English heritage, told Eastern Eye, “It’s one of the films we all grew up with, one we could relate to.
“There’s so many different stories out there that need a place to be told with the correct representation. It’s important for people, who may not have knowledge of these cultures, to go and see shows like these in the theatre and be introduced to a world of different things that they may not have seen before.”
The cast and crew of Aladdin
Ahmed, also 23, added: “It (Disney’s Aladdin) was a real change. When kids were dressed up as princesses at parties, to see one of them look a bit more like you, it was so exciting.
“I always wanted to be princess Jasmine. I still want to go to fancy-dress parties as princess Jasmine now.”
Manuel plays Wishy, Aladdin’s brother who was specifically written for the panto adaption of the story, while Ahmed is part of an ensemble who are also understudies to the leads.
The duo are part of a diverse cast that includes Natasha Lewis (This England, EastEnders) as Abby-na-zaaar!, Ruth Lynch (Aladdin, Mother Goose, Hackney Empire) as Spirit of the Ring, and Fred Double (Wuthering Heights, Wise Children) as Aladdin.
Ahmed said it was important to have actors from different backgrounds, especially as the panto is staged at the Hackney Empire.
“Hackney is a multicultural community. The audience is going to be made up of people of all backgrounds and many from the south Asian community. It’s important they are able to see representations of themselves on the stage,” she said.
She reflects on her own personal experience of seeing the likes of Shobna Gulati and Lauren Patel in the hit West End play, Everybody’s Taking About Jaimie.
“I went to see Everybody’s Talking About Jamie and seeing the character of Pritti Pasha (Lauren Patel) a Muslim character on stage, I thought it was really exciting. It’s a role that is very much similar to my own heritage.”
Kat B, Clive Rowe and Natasha Lewis with Fred Double
Manuel added: “It’s vital these characters can be from any culture, any background and we’re seeing that in the show, which is great. We’re not being put into boxes and categorised and told “you can only play certain characters” - it’s actually really refreshing to see.”
While panto is known for being fun and immersive, Manuel and Ahmed admitted that it also brings a set of uniquely “nerve-wracking” challenges.
“There’s a lot breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience,” said Ahmed. “The audience interaction makes them feel a bit more part of the show, rather than just sitting and watching; however, it can be daunting because we have to build that rapport with the audience.”
Ahmed has the added pressure of being an understudy so she could potentially end up playing one of the leads – Spirit of the Ring, the Genie character from the film versions.
“I am hoping that we stay in our roles. I should be in the ensemble the whole time,” laughed Ahmed.
“I’ve learned all the lines, the dances, the movements that she (Spirit of the Ring) does - just in case I do have to step in.”
Manuel, who performed at the National Youth Musical Theatre, said: “I love the music and dance element of panto. It’s so different to what we’re used to as theatre actors.
“I did quite of lot musical theatre when I was younger – I found a lot of joy in it, especially when I spent time abroad as it was a fun way of getting to meet other people and learning languages by doing musical theatre with lots of different people and different cultures,” added Manuel, who spent time in the Canary Islands and learned to speak Spanish and Gujarati as well as English.
Zaynah Ahmed
Manuel hopes to see young children at the show, revealing that going to panto as a child was something he cherished.
“I used to go every year with my dad. It was a real big part of my childhood. I always remember leaving feeling really happy and laughing a lot. And, not just me, I remember even my dad, a fully grown adult, laughing and having a really good time,” he said.
“It’s a tradition for a lot of families, to come and see a pantomime every year. It’s a lovely opportunity to introduce children to the world of theatre as it’s so interactive – they will absolutely love it.”
The actor’s evolving style from youth to maturity getty images
Aamir Khan embracing vintage looks with classic charmgetty images
Bold and dramatic changes defining Aamir Khan’s careergetty images
From rugged to refined Aamir Khan’s versatile appearancesgetty images
Memorable film moments showcasing Aamir Khan’s unique stylegetty images
Aamir Khan’s blend of classic and contemporary fashiongetty images
Aamir Khan’s dedication to authentic character portrayals getty images
Cinematic milestones reflected in Aamir Khan’s on-screen imagegetty images
A seated Jain enlightened teacherAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Ganesha from JavaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
A Chinese silk painting depicting the BuddhaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
ArdhanarishvaraAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Head of a grimacing yakshaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
NagaAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
The Bimaran casketAshmolean Museum, University of Oxford
Hunia Chawla
A still from rehearsal
Them performing liveNajmuddin Saifuddin Qawwal Group
The cast of Marriage Material in key moments from the play, including Avita Jay, Kiran Landa, Omar Malik, Irfan Shamji and Anoushka Deshmukh
Sathnam Sanghera’s 'Marriage Material' adapted into bold new play on conformity
The play Marriage Material at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre is Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti’s adaptation of Sathnam Sanghera’s novel of the same name, which first came out in 2013.
She is lucky to have Iqbal Khan direct Marriage Material. The play, a co-production with the Birmingham Rep, is set in the late 1960s. Mr and Mrs Bains (played by Jaz Singh Deol and Avita Jay) run a corner shop in Wolverhampton. Their younger daughter, Surinder (Anoushka Deshmukh), is 16, her sister Kamaljit (Kiran Landa) is just a bit older.
They have a neighbour, Patwant Dhanda (Irfan Shamji), who, as we shall soon see, is not a very pleasant man. In fact, he comes across just as racist as Enoch Powell, who represented Wolverhampton South West for the Tories from 1950 to 1974.
It will be recalled this was a time when Sikhs working on the buses were told they couldn’t wear a turban. That was a hard-fought battle that had to be won.
The Bains, meanwhile, simply want to get their girls married off.
Nothing new here, I thought.
What makes the tale different is that the plot twists and turns down the generations. Mr Dhanda, who has the makings of a paedophile, makes a pitch for one of the girls when Mr Bains dies early in the play. “A life with no man in the house is no life,” he informs the newly widowed Mrs Bains.
Mr Dhanda has a wife but she has returned to India so he considers himself to be a free man.
Surinder’s English teacher from school, Miss Flanagan (Celeste Dodwell), who is also head of the fifth form, tells Mrs Bains about her daughter: “I don’t want to embarrass you, but she is bright. Ridiculously bright.”
She adds: “Mrs Bains, I think it would be a pity if Surinder didn’t stay on at school.” The initial response from Mrs Bains is not encouraging: “Too much education makes people’s brains get mixed up, they don’t sleep at night…”
But she is finally persuaded that Surinder should be allowed to stay on for a while longer before being married off.
Mr Bains was very old school. When Surinder confides she would one day like to be “a somebody”, he is amused that “my daughter wants to be a somebody”.
“Like you,” she tells her father.
Mr Bains consoles his daughter: “We will find a somebody for you to marry.”
At the point of a possible marriage, however, Surinder is sweet-talked by chocolate salesman Jim Wilson (Tommy Belshaw) into running away with him. They share a love of literature, and he calls her “Sue Bains”. But the relationship does not end well.
Once she has left, Surinder is written off as “dead” by her family. The story that is circulated is that she was only 16 when she was killed in a car crash. That’s better than to let on that she ran off with a white man.
By the time she is reconciled with her sister towards the end of the play, a great deal has changed. Kamaljit married Tanvir Banga (Omar Malik), a young man who helped out in the Bains’ corner shop. When the two sisters meet again, Tanvir has also died. But he and Kamaljit had a son, Arjan Banga (Jaz Singh Deol doubles up for this role after the death of Mr Bains). He has come home after his father’s death to help his mother who is still running the family corner shop.
Meanwhile, Mr Dhanda’s business has prospered. He now has a son, Ranjit Dhanda (the role is taken by Omar Malik after Tanvir’s death), and he is nearly as unpleasant as his father.
Arjan has an English fiancée, Claire (Celeste Dodwell). In London, Arjan worked as a creative director. But after deciding to stay in Wolverhampton to help his mother, he decides he cannot marry Claire because she is white. In other words, Asians are not free of racism, either. Happily, at the end, the couple are reconciled.
As for Surinder, she parted company with Jim Wilson after realising he was all talk, depended on her for money and had failed to earn a penny from his literary pretensions. She had prospered, though, as a hotel owner and had been transformed in time into a well-groomed businesswoman. After being tracked down by Arjan, she decides to return to her roots in Wolverhampton and help Kamaljit run the family corner shop. Perhaps 50 years had passed during the passage of the play.
Being subjected to racism turned some Asians into racists themselves. The word goreh (white person) is repeatedly spat out with venom. Maybe it is worth remembering the play’s audience isn’t exclusively Asian – white folk are watching as well. And maybe some of the toilet humour ridiculing white people, which always makes me cringe, could be cut out.
In Sanghera’s novel, there is a quote from Enoch Powell’s speech in November 1968: “The West Indian or Asian does not, by being born in England, become an Englishman. In law he becomes a United Kingdom citizen by birth; in fact, he is a west Indian or an Asian still... he will by the very nature of things have lost one country without gaining another, lost one nationality without acquiring a new one. Time is running out against us and them. With the lapse of a generation or so we shall at last have succeeded – to the benefit of nobody – in reproducing ‘in England’s green and pleasant land’ the haunting tragedy of the US.”
In Marriage Material, where the acting is marvellous (apart from Mr Dhanda’s Indian mannerisms and accent being overdone) we do travel across a couple of generations.
There is a scene when Tanvir rejects Mr Dhanda’s vision of creating a little Punjab in Wolverhampton.
Mr Dhanda wants to take over the Bains’ corner shop and is putting pressure on Tanvir to sign the papers. He says: “In this country, money is the path to freedom.”
“Sign, please,” he instructs Tanvir. “We must make sure our children learn to behave nicely, according to our rules.”
He insists: “We maintain our identity so we can be ourselves.”
Tanvir disagrees: “We can be us here. With the goreh.”
Dhanda warns him: “Then we will be inviting chaos.”
Tanvir’s comment is telling: “You sound like Enoch.”
Kamaljit, who is expecting a baby with her husband Tanvir, says: “I would like my child to grow up knowing the history of the Gurus and to read the Granth Sahib. And to love their culture.”
Tanvir tells his wife: “I would like my child to go to the finest schools, to cheer for England in the World Cup and eat Yorkshire pudding on a Sunday.”
Kamaljit sets out a dream that has perhaps come to pass with many third and fourth generation British Asians: “Maybe our child can do both.” Much, much later, in a throwback to the past, we learn of Surinder’s O-level results: “Biology A, Chemistry A, English Language A, English Literature A, French A, History B, Latin A, Mathematics A, Physics A…”
Kamaljit tells her younger sister: “Never mind about the B.”
And that is quintessentially Asian. Their acting is outstanding.
Marriage Material is at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre until June 21, and at the Birmingham Rep from June 25-July 5