Alankar, Manchester – 14 March 2018. Reviewed by Marcus Richardson
4****
Handlooms asks the questions that needs to be asked but society is too afraid to talk or address them. What can we do about refugees, is men in woman’s clothing ok, is history more important that the present, what does it mean to have heritage? This piece of site-specific theatre, which is set in a sari shop, give us an insight into a relationship between a mother and son, we see the trials the sari industry faces and how modernisation takes away culture and heritage.
They play is performed in an actual sari shop, this immersion adds to the naturalistic quality and really makes you feel like you’re part of the action, Rajesh Sharma played by Ashraf Ejjbair is the leading force in keeping the traditional sari business alive, the actor gave the character a lot of depth and layers we learn throughout the play, the acting here was incredibly good, with great attention to detail and how he presents himself in different scenes. His mother Asha Patel played Riana Duce, I loved her character she was sweet and very maternal. Before the show properly began we were welcomed into the shop by her, this relaxed the audience-actor relationship and instantly calmed and made the audience feel at home, we were offered to look around and feel the saris. Her acting was amazing and she had a believable and kind aura. The acting and the story of this show is the main aspect why this this show stays in my mind, it proves that theatre is a great way to send a message across to make people aware of issues.
The show is short only lasting about sixty minutes, but we are given enough of a story arc. The sari shop is in the heart of the curry mile in Manchester, it’s amazing that so much thought had been put into the show. I loved watching the show and I walked away learning things that change the way I think about society and how we treat different cultures and people. The venue is very small, so the audience per show is limited. I would highly recommend to anyone to go and see this show.