REVIEW: Brown Girl Noise by Kaya Uppal at The Hope Theatre / Camden Fringe 13-16 August 2023

‘For all of us brown girls, wherever we grew up, I’m grateful these stories are finally being shared on stage.’ ★★★★ ½

Who would want to be Priti Patel?

In Brown Girl Noise, four brown girls (that is, young ladies of South Asian descent) are waiting to audition for a part to play a younger Priti Patel. They size each other up and try to psyche each other out of the game. Then, the insults: ironically, the biggest one was “I saw you and thought you’d be perfect for the role”. Like that, the banter of the dialogue is brilliant throughout.

The girls start to ‘devise’ their own play, in front of the audience, often breaking the fourth wall (they even gave a mention to reviewers, which never happens). Each scene is named by chapters, such as Sorry not Sari (a hilarious take on the ‘aunties’ of the South Asian community) or Politicians aren’t so Pretty (see what they did there?). Stating their ages and school years, each girl shares an anecdote, a snippet of their lives, that work as markers of their ‘brown girl’ experiences, from enduring insults to heartache.

Pacy, clever, sexy, it even includes a satirical scene in parliament, a pastiche about the “Kardash-asians”, and a South Asian Love Island with Sima Aunty from Mumbai (a reference understood by watching Netflix’s Indian Matchmaking) though often ending with poignant questions, such as “How do you choose between yourself and your family?” Similarly, there are cultural references throughout that are time and place specific, and yet accessible to anyone. It is slightly disheartening to think that the only real role model the girls connected with from the mainstream was Jess (Jaswinder) from Bend it Like Beckham, over 20 years old now, played by Parminder Nagra, and evidently many in the audience connected with it too.

There are scenes where they compare their lot with brown boys, who are given much more berth in life, and where they perform Horrible Histories and were amusingly direct about this scene being to give context and background, as they spoke about being written out of history. There are moments of real honesty, including the lack of vulnerability in South Asian communities and the struggle to figure out whether they should cheer for Asian politicians even when they disagree with them, or questions of how to deal with being publicly humiliated.

With some technical polishing and expansion of the ideas (one scene seemed a bit rushed to incorporate pathos), this could be ready for a larger stage. The present era seems ready to address racial trauma mingled with community joy on stage. It is hard not to think of the much-lauded For Black Boys Who Consider Suicide When the Hue Gets Too Heavy at the Royal Court, which put 8 black men on stage sharing their vulnerability in a powerful way. In the recent Brown Girls Do It Too: My Mama Told Me Not to Come (based on the podcast) at Soho Theatre, where they also spoke about the way South Asian boys (who have yet to create a piece about their experiences) are treated in comparison to the girls, while appreciating their femininity.

There seems to be an appetite, a need to speak the truths of people who have been suppressed and repressed, mingled with humour and colour and yes, even dance. And there was dance and song and joy, as these brown girls showed that through all the difficult moments, they stand proud and sassy and confident about the future. Especially together. Over time, the four competitors develop a friendship much like the Sex and the City ladies.

So far, this show is the snappiest and most evocative show I have seen in Camden Fringe this year. For all of us brown girls, wherever we grew up, I’m grateful these stories are finally being shared on stage, and the audience was quite moved by them. Even if we had to dwell on Priti Patel to get there.

Box Office https://camdenfringe.com/events/brown-girl-noise/

Written by Kaya Uppal

Performed by Misha Domadia, Kerena Jagpal, Kaya Uppal, Amber Zarya

Directed by Neetu Singh

Social media

Twitter: @ BrownGirlNoise

TikTok: browngirlnoise

Instagram brown_girlnoise

Reviewed by Mariam Mathew