Living with corruption: Meera Syal (Zehrunisa Husain). Photo credit: Richard Hubert Smith
Play: Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Theatre: National Theatre
Playwright: David Hare (based on the book of the same title by Katherine Boo)
Director: Rufus Norris
Review by Natalie Gormally
David Hare’s adaption of Katherine Boo’s non-fiction book Behind the Beautiful Forevers, provides us with a glimpse into the harsh and ruthless life in a Mumbai slum.
Boo, an investigative journalist, spent three years getting to know the residents of Annawadi – a slum which runs alongside the city’s international airport – documenting the dirt and drama of their daily lives. While Annawadi lies just 200 yards from the airport road, the settlement is hidden behind a large concrete wall covered with banner adverts of Bollywood stars which read “BEAUTIFUL FOREVER”.
Boo won the Pulitzer Prize for her efforts, but turning this award winning story into a play must not have been easy. There are numerous stories and subplots to juggle. Thankfully seasoned playwright Hare connects enough of the narrative strands to deliver a rich tale, without overwhelming the audience.
At the centre of the play is the Husain family. Abdul (a superb Shane Zaza) is 16 years old and the family breadwinner, collecting and selling the recyclable rubbish the rich discard. As a result of his hard work, Abdul’s family have become one of the wealthiest residents of Annawadi and plan to move away – much to the envy of their neighbours, particularly the one legged Fatima (an impressive Thusitha Jayasundera).
With much profanity and dark humour, we are taken into their chaotic world of fierce quarrels and cruel one-upmanship, the worse being when a troubled Fatima sets fire to herself to frame the Husain family. The out of control spat not only destroys the Husains, who have to use all the money they have acquired to navigate India’s crooked legal system, but also Fatima’s own family.
Meera Syal is convincing as the Husain’s matriarch Zehrunisa, a strong but long-suffering woman who is emotionally and financially ground down, as every palm she encounters expects to be greased.
There are a number of potent side stories and subplots. Asha (an accomplished Stephanie Street) is the female slumlord, able to fix any problem – for a hefty price. Her daughter Manju (the talented Anjana Vasan) is a sweet girl, keen to graduate from college while secretly sharing her learning with her less fortunate friend, Meena (the bright Anneika Rose), in the shadows of the field toilets.
Sunil (a delightful Hiran Abeysekera) is a stunted but aerobatic orphan and garbage picker, who gets involved with the wrong crowd. In the midst of all these characters are also the scavengers and street drug addicts, whose lives and deaths are cheapened by the police, who are unconcerned and disinterested in the paperwork.
Rufus Norris’s production is quite a spectacle. Combined with Katrina Lindsay’s design and Paule Constable’s lighting, we get a visual hint of this pitiless world. The rickety slum dwellings, decrepit police station and hospital remove any romantic notion of Indian life. While filling the stage with motor vehicles, animals and endless crowds creates a sense of Annawadi’s unruliness. The thunderously loud projected plane is a nice touch.
In Annawadi, it seems impossible to get by without being part of the corrupt system, either paying or bribing someone. But Abdul (who resolves to live an honest life after his spell in a youth detention centre ), and Manju’s questioning over her mother’s motives to run schools under a new government scheme, seem to provide hope that some goodness will prevail, even in a world of immense poverty and deprivation.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers is a powerful and thought-provoking tale, made all the more impactful due to its source material, which will stay with you long after you leave the National Theatre.
Behind the Beautiful Forevers is at the National Theatre until Tuesday 5 May 2015.