True Brits

by Vinay Patel

The old lady on this train is looking at me, staring at me, she's been doing it since New Eltham, I can feel her eyes on the sweat on my neck. I turn ro catch her out, and she flicks her head back to her book, like she's subtle, but she ain't. I wish she'd just punch me, y'know? The punch I can take, but the look . . . all these frightened half-glances they . . . they just . . .

When a violent encounter leads to a whirlwind romance, young Rahul is more than willing to be caught up. But in the aftermath of 7/7, his world changes in ways he cannot control, drawing him into ever-darker places as he struggles to remain part of a British society that now distrusts him on sight.

Sweeping between the paranoid London of 2005 and the euphoric city of the 2012 Olympics, HighTide Escalator writer Vinay Patel's debut play is an honest, humorous, hopeful play about wanting to love and be loved. By your crush. By your friends. By your country. True Brits received its world premiere on 31 July 2014 at the Assembly Hall, Baillie Room, Edinburgh.

Genres: Plays

64 pages, Paperback

First published August 11, 2014

Reviews

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed Patel's latest play (An Adventure, and wanted to sample some of his other works. This monologue was his first fully produced play apparently, and while it shows promise, it's definitely the work of a neophyte. It didn't help that much of the references were NOT things I was familiar with (as a Yank), but it was still fairly accessible and readable.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wish I read this with more awareness of setting and chronology because I kept getting disoriented and I think that took me out of it. But it is such a nuanced take on the idea of patriotism and how many POC communities and generations traverse the idea of colonialism and racism in UK culture. I think the setting was perfect for the story that was being told as London at that time was such a cataclysmic place and it resonated despite only being able to read the play now.

[Maxine · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a script but it's as readable as a novella. Read it for friendship, love and coming of age.

Rahul is 18 in 2005, 25 in 2012 - the year of the London Olympics. In 2005, during the Iraq war, after the London bombings, the public were paranoid about 'Muslims' (or anyone a bit brown), the feared Other. In 2012, the Brits celebrated the Olympics and whatever heritage you had they were British together and winning.

Rahul looks at what it means to be British and of Indian heritage.
"Three generations of my family have lived and died by the Thames, the Thames is our lifeblood. But Mum still spreads his ashes in the Ganges."

Patel shows us the rounded human: 18 year olds protest, talk politics, linguistics, juxtaposing it with youth culture of alcohol, racism, violence.

The secondary characters are as engaging as the main characters. If you saw the award-winning Murdered by my Father on BBC you'll understand how Patel scripts plot in the most heart-lifting heart-breaking way. The secondary characters are as engaging as the main characters. You love the characters, you want to shake them, you never hate them.

His writing will break your heart and mend it with love and hope.

[Paolo D'Alessandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nazioni, individui, identità. Eventi che legano, che disgregano. Farsi le domande, rispondersi a thumb war.
Un monologo da rivivere.