| Orange by Alan Harris |
| First presented in 2006 by Sgript Cymru |
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cast size:?
synopsis: (Performances at Chapter Arts Centre, Cardiff from the 6th- 23rd September) An extremely powerful, character-based chamber play; set against the background of the kidnapping in Iraq of a British aid-worker. Two confused and naive young men kidnap a wealthy Muslim businessman outside a Cardiff mosque and attempt to trade off his release with that of the aid-worker. Intense, touching and unexpectedly comic, the drama explores the true meaning of freedom and captivity through an examination of race, class and sexuality. |
There is 1 review of Sgript Cymru's Orange in our database:
| Gritty and energetic.. | |
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Orange
by Alan Harris
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[print] |
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venue Chapter Arts Centre Cardiff |
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September 12, 2006 |
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| Review by Dominic Rai 8 September Saleem: (reading from the paper) “My name is Saleem Mohammad. I am a Muslim. I have been treated fairly and kindly. I have been taken as a last resort. It is the fault of those evil terrorists who have preyed upon the innocent. I will be released only after the British hostage Susan Ross is released in Iraq and is once agin in the hands of the British authorities. If anything happens to Mrs Ross I...I...shall be executed. Please. If she dies, I die. An eye for an eye.” All new plays have a history. The journey of Orange by Alan Harris, is a story is worth relating. Alan, a journalist living in Cardiff wrote two plays before being having Orange produced. The first, a romatic comedy and the second a darker play. Orange inspired by the kidnap of the charity worker Mary Hassan was started before the 7/7 London bombings and the recent capture of mainly British Asain youth accused of attempting to blow up US bound planes. Script Cymru (Welsh new writing company) have to congratulated in supporting such a bold play. The energetic production directed by Tessa Walker is wonderfully designed and lit emphasising its grittiness and humour. In fact the play resonates with life as we know it. There have been many life threatening attacks on people taking refuge from Afghanistan, Iraq, and Iran, including a racially motivated murder of a Kurdish man in Swansea. Chippie and Viv are the two white guys who kidnap Saleem, a Pakistani man. They are played by Lee Bane and Geraint Hardy. Without the supremacist ideals these are ordinary yobs whose story society needs to hear. There is some fine acting from the cast of three which incudes Marc Anwar who plays Saleem. Marc gives a realistic and poignant performance of the innocent victim. There are some touching moments when Saleem gains the reserved respect of Viv. Marc Anwar, no newcomer to controverstial work, has acted in Hanif Qureshi’s My Son the Fanatic, 1997 and Brothers in Trouble, 1995 directed by Udayan Prasad from the Urdu novel by Abdullah Hussain. He is currently involved in setting up a charity in his hometown of Bury, Lancashire, called markaz-Al-Huda (Centre of Guidence), which aims to help the different communities unite in the face of current Islamopobia and religious fanaticism. A country, it is said, should be judged by how it treats its minorities. The challenge for Welsh theatre will be how it encourages stories from its refugee and minority community writers to its stages to tell the story of contemporary Wales. Welsh theatre, like Wales itself, is establishing a separate identity from the English. Stories from its BME and refugee community writers can help form this vibrant contemporary Welsh identity. |
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| reviewer: Dominic Rai |
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