REVIEW: EVENING CONVERSATIONS Written and performed by Sudha Bhuchar at Soho Theatre until 12 Nov 2022
“full of warmth and wry wisdom” ★★★
As you take your seat in the intimate setting of the Soho Theatre basement, there’s a waft of incense while Arun Ghosh’s, Punjabi Girl has you tapping your foot. Even before Evening Conversations starts, the welcoming tone is set for the next ninety minutes. If you expect theatre to punch you over the head and leave you dazed, then this production, directed by Kristine Landon-Smith, full of warmth and wry wisdom, is not for you. Sudha Bhuchar, the one-woman writer and performer tells us straight. “Don’t expect a story with a narrative story and compelling arcs.”
Instead, the audience is drawn into Bhuchar’s gently meandering monologue and a generous account of her formative background and current life in leafy Wimbledon where she lives with her two millennial sons and British Pakistani husband. She sits mainly on her chair (from her stint on Mary Poppins) and speaks in a beguiling, sweet voice, one that almost lulls you into thinking you are part of a friendly conversation. But Loose Women this ain’t and despite her disclaimer, there are knots and tangles aplenty for conflict seekers.
Her themes that span immigration, racism and cross-cultural, inter-generational tensions and traumas, are often relayed with quiet understatement, ironic detachment or witty reflection. The thorny issue of where one belongs, who we are and the meaning of home forms a central thrust as her sons question her woke credentials and insist her generation had a smoother, easier ride. There are no easy answers in these snatches of relayed verbatim family conversations, only endlessly difficult questions. Beneath the talk of Prosecco, book clubs and property prices, this is a beguilingly political show.
As she purses her lips and applies Mac’s Stubborn Brown, we’re invited into Bhuchar’s world, that of a Tanzanian-born, British Asian actor born to Indian parents. Some might remember Sudha Bhuchar in her role as Meena in Eastenders but she’s weary of being cast in roles created to further the arcs of white co-performers. She’s hit a significant birthday ending in zero and she’s telling us how it is, how she sees the world and her candid honesty stays with you. She admits, she’s always had problems with the ‘F’ word, (we’re talking feminism, here) but here is a proud woman, mother and activist in the prime of her life, holding her own in a show that celebrates female strength and ‘resilience’ (an overused verb she takes issue with). With Evening Conversations the mission statement of Bhuchar’s theatre company, Bhuchar Boulevard set up in 2017 to produce “heartfelt, memorable theatre for multiple and diverse audiences and reflect our common humanity” is clearly achieved.
Photographer Harry Elletson
EVENING CONVERSATIONS Written and performed by Sudha Bhuchar, directed by Kristine Landon-Smith at Soho Theatre 31 Oct - 12 Nov 2022
Box Office 020 7478 0100
Reviewed by Nilgin Yusuf
An experienced author, lecturer and journalist (ex-Sunday Times, Daily Telegraph and ELLE) Nilgin is developing her first full-length stage play, supported by Mrs.C’s Collective and the Arts Council
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