ASIAN playwright and actor, Waleed Akhtar, said his play, The P Word, about homosexuality in the Muslim community and the hostility towards asylum seekers, is more “intense and relevant” now than when he first wrote it.
Four years after it won an Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre, the play returned to west London’s Bush Theatre, where it was first performed, with its original cast and creative team intact.
Akhtar told Eastern Eye, “I wanted to humanise the people at the centre of debates around pinkwashing (the strategic use of LGBTQ+ rights or imagery to project a progressive, inclusive image), around what the Muslim community thinks about homosexuality, and around attitudes towards those seeking asylum.”
Directed by Anthony Simpson-Pike, the play tells the story of Zafar (Esh Alladi) who has fled homophobic persecution in Pakistan to seek asylum in the UK. He meets and falls in love with Bilal (played by Akhtar himself), or Billy, as he prefers, who is a second-generation Pakistani, born and raised in London.
Akhtar said, “I wanted to put these characters on stage because I had never seen a queer, brown romance on stage in the UK. I was writing it very much from a brown lens, and that resonated with a lot of people.”
According to the writer, the script from 2022 has been updated with references to the farright protests across the UK and more recent changes to asylum legislation.
'News cycle feels endless'
Akhtar said, “The news cycle feels endless. There’s always so much going on. The story is still the story of Billy and Zafar. But we’ve added new material to get further into some of the issues that have happened since then.”
Emmy-winning star Tan France has joined as a producer, alongside television doctor and Strictly Come Dancing celebrity Dr Ranj Singh, both of whom have lent their public profiles to this year’s production. For Akhtar, France’s involvement carried a particular resonance.
“He’s the kind of representation I wish I had as a kid - queer, south Asian, visible. I was so flattered that when he read the play it resonated with him and that he wanted to get behind it.”
Waleed Akhtar in 'The P Word' at Bush Theatre. Photo: Craig Fuller
Playing a character he has written, Akhtar said, requires a deliberate act of separation.
“At a certain point during rehearsals, the writer has to leave the room. I have to stop thinking about it as the writer and take it on board purely as the actor – delve into the character, rather than look at the play as a whole.”
Akhtar recalled how four years after the original run closed, strangers were still stopping him in the street to talk about what the play meant to them.
“I realised it had become bigger than me and the thing I wrote. It means so much to so many people,” he said.
Asked if he feels pressure to represent the queer south Asian community, Akhtar is clear he deliberately resists that role. He said, “It’s so difficult to set yourself up as the voice for a whole community.”
Instead, he has kept to a guiding principle: in specificity, there is universality.
By staying as truthful as possible to his characters, what it means to be Pakistani, British, second generation, Akhtar said the story has reached further than it might have done otherwise.
“I’m not trying to say, ‘this is all of us, and people are seeing shades of themselves in the story.” The proof came during the first run, when an audience member told him they had simply watched a love story, not a queer one or a south Asian one.
“Because on one level, it is simply about two people falling for each other.”
Advice to British Asians
Akhtar’s career is gathering considerable pace. A film adaptation of The P Word is in development. He has written on The Road Trip, a rom-com now streaming on Paramount Plus, and his audio play, Mrs Bibi, voiced by Laila Rouass and released on Audible last year, was shortlisted for the Tinniswood Award.
He also holds commissions from the Almeida, the Unicorn and Manhattan Theatre Club, and is on attachment at the Royal Court.
For young British Asian artists looking at him for inspiration, Akhtar’s advice is direct: know your reason for doing it, and don’t be afraid of your own story.
“Now, more than ever, is the moment to speak truth to power, to tell your stories and revel in your uniqueness,” he said. “I’m genuinely proud, because it feels like there’s a real wave of south Asian writers coming through right now with original voices, pushing the narrative forward.
“For a long time, British south Asian stories were perhaps stuck in the stories that other people wanted us to tell. It feels like we’re taking ownership of our own narratives, putting those stories front and centre, and hopefully reaching bigger audiences and bigger stages.”
He added, “The P Word has all the joy and brilliance of the first-time round – but with the added urgency of now.”
The P Word runs at the Bush Theatre until June 27
