What do you think?
Rate this book
The Estate
' If it's not about money, how come money can fix it?'
The Leader of the Opposition has been forced to resign in a scandal. Against the odds, Angad Singh emerges as the favourite.
He could win, he could make history, he could really change things – as long as his sisters keep their mouths shut…
Shaan Sahota's play The Estate is a razor-sharp exploration of family, power and the lies we tell about ourselves. It was first performed at the National Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by Daniel Raggett, with Adeel Akhtar as Angad.
The Leader of the Opposition has been forced to resign in a scandal. Against the odds, Angad Singh emerges as the favourite.
He could win, he could make history, he could really change things – as long as his sisters keep their mouths shut…
Shaan Sahota's play The Estate is a razor-sharp exploration of family, power and the lies we tell about ourselves. It was first performed at the National Theatre, London, in 2025, directed by Daniel Raggett, with Adeel Akhtar as Angad.
147 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 17, 2025
1 person is currently reading
6 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
Read
August 10, 2025Saw it online. A masterpiece
January 14, 2026
The Estate is a very class-conscious political satire!
The list of characters at the start includes the school and the university (for example, Sangeeta is at St Paul's Girls'; Jesus, Oxford). There are eight characters: six attended public schools, and two grammar schools.
In The Estate the Leader of the Opposition has been forced to resign in a sex scandal. Angad Singl (Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs) emerges as the favourite.
The political party is ambiguous! There is a reference to New Labour, 'lost trust' at the election, and half of the members having already played soggy biscuit themselves. It is probably the Conservative Party? I also get that the political party is not the point of The Estate.
But there is a problem! The Dad dies and he leaves one hundred percent to Angad (and therefore nothing to the sisters Gyan and Malicka). The sisters threaten to go to the press if he does not split it, and therefore damage Angad's chances of the leadership.
In Clive Davis's review of The Estate in The Times, he argues that two plays are running side by side here (that is, the Westminister bubble and the family drama) and neither of them really works. However, I disagree!
The dialogue is also crude (not bad, but very crude). These are some examples:
ANGAD. A misogynist?! I do the laundry, I go down on my wife.
SANGEETA. Sure. Okay. Did I tell you, I fingered his brother’s butthole at Bryanston and I can promise you, their shit does stink.
RALPH. It’s excellent advice, but nonetheless, he has fucked us in the collective arsehole with a cautionary tale for the ages.
MALICKA. I wish Dad was around. Asthmatic, on your knees in front of your wife – fattened up on posh-boy semen. He would have written you out of this will right now.
There are also four themes that I found especially interesting:
1. I do not understand the attitude of Sangeeta (Angad's wife). In Acts Two Scenes Three and Four she is so upset at Angad's very bad behaviour; however, in the Epilogue they are still together. Maybe she is trapped (suggested by Malicka in Act Two Scene Two)? Maybe it is a further exploration of the patriarchy (that is, his behaviour was very bad; however, she is pregnant and they stay together).
2. The exploration of class and race is also very interesting. Angad's father came to the country in 1978 with only twelve pounds. He worked as a baggade handler; however, he then became a Corner-Ship Mughal (with side notes of slum landlord). Angdad attended a state school but then attended Harrow.
3. The idea of meritocracy. In Angad's speech to the Party Conference, he says: 'Let me make it absolutely clear: I kept it. Because I earnt it. I kept it. Because I worked my whole life for it. I kept it. Because it's mine'. But how about his education at Harrow. How about his sister Gyan teaching him how to brush his teeth or collecting him from school? How about
4. The contradictions in the patriarchy. Angdad's Dad did not split the money between Angad and the two sisters; however, he would have between three sons. But how about primogeniture? How about hereditary priviledges in the Lords?
There is also a good gag about how much money Angad's father came to the country with:
(Rehearsing.) My father came to this country with twelve pounds in his pocket.
Where’s my family tragedy and my love for the nurses? And my dad coming here with five pounds in his pocket.
I am the son of a baggage handler, who came here with three pounds in his pocket.
This review is VERY rambley. The Estate is not a perfect play but it is a very interesting one!
The list of characters at the start includes the school and the university (for example, Sangeeta is at St Paul's Girls'; Jesus, Oxford). There are eight characters: six attended public schools, and two grammar schools.
In The Estate the Leader of the Opposition has been forced to resign in a sex scandal. Angad Singl (Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs) emerges as the favourite.
The political party is ambiguous! There is a reference to New Labour, 'lost trust' at the election, and half of the members having already played soggy biscuit themselves. It is probably the Conservative Party? I also get that the political party is not the point of The Estate.
But there is a problem! The Dad dies and he leaves one hundred percent to Angad (and therefore nothing to the sisters Gyan and Malicka). The sisters threaten to go to the press if he does not split it, and therefore damage Angad's chances of the leadership.
In Clive Davis's review of The Estate in The Times, he argues that two plays are running side by side here (that is, the Westminister bubble and the family drama) and neither of them really works. However, I disagree!
The dialogue is also crude (not bad, but very crude). These are some examples:
ANGAD. A misogynist?! I do the laundry, I go down on my wife.
SANGEETA. Sure. Okay. Did I tell you, I fingered his brother’s butthole at Bryanston and I can promise you, their shit does stink.
RALPH. It’s excellent advice, but nonetheless, he has fucked us in the collective arsehole with a cautionary tale for the ages.
MALICKA. I wish Dad was around. Asthmatic, on your knees in front of your wife – fattened up on posh-boy semen. He would have written you out of this will right now.
There are also four themes that I found especially interesting:
1. I do not understand the attitude of Sangeeta (Angad's wife). In Acts Two Scenes Three and Four she is so upset at Angad's very bad behaviour; however, in the Epilogue they are still together. Maybe she is trapped (suggested by Malicka in Act Two Scene Two)? Maybe it is a further exploration of the patriarchy (that is, his behaviour was very bad; however, she is pregnant and they stay together).
2. The exploration of class and race is also very interesting. Angad's father came to the country in 1978 with only twelve pounds. He worked as a baggade handler; however, he then became a Corner-Ship Mughal (with side notes of slum landlord). Angdad attended a state school but then attended Harrow.
3. The idea of meritocracy. In Angad's speech to the Party Conference, he says: 'Let me make it absolutely clear: I kept it. Because I earnt it. I kept it. Because I worked my whole life for it. I kept it. Because it's mine'. But how about his education at Harrow. How about his sister Gyan teaching him how to brush his teeth or collecting him from school? How about
4. The contradictions in the patriarchy. Angdad's Dad did not split the money between Angad and the two sisters; however, he would have between three sons. But how about primogeniture? How about hereditary priviledges in the Lords?
There is also a good gag about how much money Angad's father came to the country with:
(Rehearsing.) My father came to this country with twelve pounds in his pocket.
Where’s my family tragedy and my love for the nurses? And my dad coming here with five pounds in his pocket.
I am the son of a baggage handler, who came here with three pounds in his pocket.
This review is VERY rambley. The Estate is not a perfect play but it is a very interesting one!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews