Love n Stuff @ Stratford East

 

Dreams, destiny and high flung flights of fancy were all lived out in Love n Stuff, an unconventionally staged musical that wasn’t all happy clappy love and forever after with the bickering Bindi (Rina Fatania) and Mansoor (Nicholas Khan).  This was my first outing to Stratford theatre east, an all too handy end of Jubilee jaunt being a stone’s throw away that it will probably become my local South London haunt. Whilst the production seemed thin on the ground in terms of its sugar coated love struck appeal, Love n Stuff was actually a jam packed performance embedded in identity and cultural integration that heavily resonates in a multicultural metropolis like London. My initial expectations were low when I purchased my ticket in that I needed a comic pick me up on a drunken Friday night, and that was as far as my hopes went. I must admit I was pleasantly surprised with the impeccable dissection of Indian humour and a better understanding of how this community forms a significant part of British life.  Love n Stuff isn’t usual my typical type of show to pay to see out of choice, but I am glad I gave it a fair viewing. In terms of show time, it lasted around the right length of time, as any longer and it would have ran out of steam.

 

We begin at Heathrow airport with a lost soul Mansoor (Nicholas Khan) desperate to leave crowded and soulless London for his homeland, sun soaked Delhi where he believes lies a perfect life. The set serves as numerous locations with minimal effort and the strategically placed seating lounge serves as a living room and car without even going anywhere and without too much fanfare. Love n Stuff could have easily been a very static and repetitive yawner, but thanks to the invigorating energy thrust up by Fatania and Khan, Love n Stuff didn’t run out of magic ingredients. One scene succinctly merged into another, and the timing of stage exits and entrances to merge these shifts were impeccable and right on cue. Some of the acts were a tad non sensical and could be classed as a tad over the top, as Khan and Fatania embodied more than 20 characters in one performance without an interval, all intertwined with Glaswegian, RP and Indian accents. The physicality of Khan throughout the show was accurately in line with his re-enactment of his characters, as I was very heavily convinced that he was genuinely Indian with his spot on vowels.

 

Whilst the show as a whole was entertaining, it was quite infantile and ridiculous in places and as a result alienated its audience. Any production that focuses heavily on eccentricity and unique humour is a risk, and this served a mixed reception from its audience. The character hopping was almost overwhelming in parts, and one couldn’t necessarily feel the connection to its relevance. What the actors convincingly portrayed was a long suffering relationship stuck in a rut and a desire for change and uprootedness. The over ambitions of the direction within this show outweighed what it was actually able to deliver. I think it could have been more simplified and stuck to a more focused context, rather than being a tad too convoluted and introducing an over abundance of themes and characters. On the plus side, any show that attempts to deliver a wide variety of themes and characters with a limited cast and stage devices does indeed deserve a stealth of credit in its right.

 

Next week: Thursday 16 June @ Network Theatre, Waterloo to see Apocalypse the musical