Give Me the Sun 

By Mamet Leigh, directed by Majid Mehdizadeh

 (Blue Elephant Theatre)

Review by Amanda Vilanova 

‘Why did we come to the UK?’ is the question that ignites a night of important conversations between a father and son, of confrontation and reflection. The set, made up of a sofa, table and lamp, takes the audience into a sparsely furnished council flat where the action takes place. At the back, a wooden window hangs from the ceiling, with a view of a city backdrop made of cardboard.

Bashir was brought by his parents from Egypt to the United Kingdom when he was four years old. His mother died shortly after their arrival. As the play progresses, we understand that the couple fled in search of a better life than Hosni Mubarak’s Egyptian government had to offer. In their home country, Baba, Bashir’s father, was a doctor and yet in London he can only find work at Tesco. Baba insists the move was necessary, but Bashir longs to find another identity. He feels like ‘dirt in water’, as if ‘suspended between the earth and the sky’; not English enough and not quite Egyptian enough, either. Bashir’s mother comes to him in dreams and speaks to him in Arabic, a language he has now forgotten. As father and son exchange opposing views, the set’s backdrop seems to take on a Middle Eastern feel – a reminder of the place once called home and now left behind.

Identity is an ongoing theme in multicultural literature and drama in the United Kingdom, a place marked by immigration where first- and second-generation individuals are hungry for an understanding of where they come from and what their role within this country might be. Give me the Sun by Mamet Leigh, an Iranian writer and pioneer of the Tehran underground theatre movement, explores identity in a very human way. The question Bashir poses to his father and Baba’s desire to protect him from difficult truths ring true for so many immigrants who feel pushed and pulled between two worlds. The play moves at a quick and condensed pace with dialogue going straight to the conflict. However, there are moments, as Bashir describes his dreams and early memories, when poetic language contrasts beautifully with realism.

The father-son relationship makes the piece particularly special by presenting two sensitive and caring men who seek understanding above all else. It is refreshing to watch when male relationships are so often explored through dominance and violence. Aso Sherabayani as Baba and Joseph Samimi as Bashir give solid and layered performances. The last 20 minutes were thrilling to watch – the need for closure became more pressing for the characters and, in turn, for the audience who had become so invested in their relationship.

The piece had a three-week run in July 2022 at the Blue Elephant Theatre in London, a community theatre and registered charity that has been working with the local community and supporting artists for over 25 years. Give me the Sun was the conclusion of a three-year development process supported by Blue Elephant. Mamet Leigh and his work are worth watching out for. 

http://www.blueelephanttheatre.co.uk/give-me-sun

Amanda Vilanova

Amanda Vilanova is a Puerto Rican writer, actor and translator based in London.