By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Saturday 26 October 2024, running through 16 November 2024 RUNTIME: 170 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

Ahluwalia gives a truly rock star performance as 17-year-old Karim growing up in south London’s suburbs in 1976 and lusting after a male classmate.

• Read on for reasons including how this is a a brilliantly fun night out with a compelling story of injustice at its heart

There’s a lot of sex in Emma Rice’s (Brief Encounter, Empire Cinema, Haymarket) stage adaptation of Hanif Kureishi’s acclaimed novel of The Buddha Of Suburbia with party poppers being released at every orgasm which lightens the mood.

There’s no full nudity and instead giant bananas and melons stand in for erect penises and vaginas as Karim has sex with his best friend Jamila played intelligently by Natasha Jayetileke and masturbates aspiring rock star Charlie, Tommy Belshaw excelling in multiple roles.

Ankur Bahl is fascinating as Karim’s father Haroon who is unfaithful to his wife Margaret (Katy Owen giving 2 exceptional performances including as groomed actress Eleanor) and cheating on her with middle class hippie Eva, a relatable Lucy Thackeray, who is Charlie’s mother.

Elsewhere Jamila’s parents subject her to an arranged marriage with lovable Changez, an engaging Simon Rivers, who is not what her parents, Naveed Khan’s violent Anwar and Rina Fatania’s abused but brilliant Jeeta were expecting.

Rice’s lively and lyrical directorial style will not be for everyone but it is brilliantly realised here with the cast dancing to evocative period songs here including Tragedy by the Bee Gees and Lovely Day by Bill Withers.

Interval footage shows iconic 70s TV clips including Terry Wogan in BBC’s Blankety Blank and Brian Murphy in ITV’s comedy Man About The House to set the mood.

But it’s the threat of violence and racism faced by those at the centre of this story which still rings true today and we should never forget which makes this story all the more pertinent.

Karim finds his feet in theatre and while Rice embraces a familiar theme in her work here – the joy and playfulness of stagework – she’s unafraid to also expose the grooming of wife-swapping director Matthew Pyke, Ewan Wardrop especially devilishly impressive when he slimily interacts with an audience member.

Rice shows real affection for all the characters in this story and we were delighted by the attention to detail given to all those featured here and story arc completed by our favourite character Karim’s mum when the inclination to edit may have loomed large given the extended running time.

We’ve neither read nor seen The Buddha Of Suburbia before so came to this fresh and absolutely loved the material which although dated still felt relevant today.

Rice has long been a director whose work we’ve loved and Ahluwalia is outstanding in the main role and her Buddha is a brilliantly fun night out with a compelling story of injustice at its heart.

• Main pictures via Facebook courtesy Wise Children and Barbican Centre Tickets
• Have you seen an Emma Rice show before and what did you think of this 1? Let us know what you thought in the comments below
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