Rice Review

Theatre Royal, York – until 14th April 2022

Reviewed by Katie Goldsbrough

3***

Rice, by Michele Lee and directed by Matthew Xia tells the story of Nisha (Anya Jaya-Murphy) and Yvette (Angela Yeoh), who form a bond while working at Rice company, Golden Fields. Nisha is second in command executive officer and Yvette as a cleaner.

Set in Australia, Nisha dreams of being a CEO, one of Grandmothers greatest desires for her. Being of Indian heritage herself she fights hard to secure a huge rice deal with India. Others believe the deal is never going to happen, yet Yvette urges Nisha not to give up. After floods in western Bengal affect the Indian rice paddies Golden Fields travel to India and we see Nisha’s desperation in trying to seal a deal, which has been 14 months in development. Yvette, an older Chinese migrant, has her own issues to deal with after her daughter organises a protest leading to her facing jail time. She must also deal with her failed business, selling fake designer bags and shoes.  Nisha and Yvette begin to advise each other and try to help each other out. This doesn’t always have the best outcome and they seemingly end the play in worse positions than when it began. Although perhaps this is just the start of a new beginning for them both. 

With the two actresses playing a range of characters and one office set being used for the duration of the play (despite one scene taking place in the Indian rice paddy fields) it can be a bit confusing at times. But the story is interesting and the two actresses are both very good at changing from character to character using a range of accents. It ends on a bit of a cliff hanger with no clear idea as to what either character is going to do next. An interesting play which may benefit from different sets for different scenes.