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Stuck on a roundabout
MAYER WAKEFIELD has reservations about the direction of a play centered on a DVLA re-training session for three British-Pakistani motorists
(L to R) Arian Nik as Samir, Shazia Nicholls as Faiza) Sabrina Sandhu as Harleen
[Richard Lakos]
PETER MASON thrills to the sound of south London-born Yussef Dayes, and the galaxy of musicians drawn into his orbit
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JAMIE BRITTON recommends that we all buy at least two copies of a remarkable book of poems
Speed
Holloway Theatre
A STAGGERING 1.5 million drivers attend retraining courses every year in the UK, making this widespread educational experience an ideal vehicle for dramatic exploration. Enter Mohamed-Zain Dada’s Speed, where three British-Pakistani motorists find themselves inducted into the DVLA’s new pilot scheme, the Rehabilitating and Unlearning National Driving Initiative or RUNDI for short.
Three drivers, all with nine points on their licence, find themselves in the volatile hands of facilitator Abz (Nikesh Patel). Faiza (Shazia Nicholls) is a well-to-do Surrey business lady; Samir (Arian Nik), a laddish delivery driver from H-Town (Harehills) in Leeds and Harleen (Sabrina Sandhu), a Brummie nurse whose heavy workload is taking its toll.
Things get off to a breakneck, hilarious start as the contrasting course mates are introduced to the personality awareness model, the Johari Window – definitely not “the Jihadi window” the spunky Samir deliberately mistakes it for. Abz struggles to keep things on the straight and narrow as the laughs continue to flow and tumbling revelations begin to take a darker edge.
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