"The Foreigners' Panto" is a political musical comedy that follows a troupe of immigrants endeavouring to stage their own rendition of a classic British pantomime. It seamlessly blends heartwarming farcical elements with incisive satire, offering a unique perspective on the lives of immigrants in the UK.
Crafted by Shani Erez, a theatre artist from the Middle East, the play draws from her own real-life encounter with the threat of deportation from the UK. "The Foreigners’ Panto" not only entertains but also serves as a poignant narrative reflecting the challenges faced by immigrants in the country.
The production recently announced its cast and Asian Voice spoke to Vikash Bhai, who plays the antagonist, about the play and what can the audience look forward to.
Can you give us a brief overview of the play and your character in the play?
The Foreigner's Panto is a political musical comedy about a group of immigrants who really are trying to put on their own version of a traditional British pantomime.
I play Lord Villain and he, essentially, is the bad guy. He's the antagonist. He's the one who's trying to put the spanner in the works for Dame Foreign's endeavours. He's quite a fun character, you know, He's got all the pitfalls of any kind of panto villain. What's exciting about playing Lord Villain is finding those elements of comedy and blending them with serious satire in the realms of migration.
There are some elements of truth in this character and so it's finding the balance between comedy and realism.
What factors influenced your decision to be a part of this play?
What drew me to the play is the play itself. It's new writing that is refreshing. It’s an interesting take on the British panto, something I've never done so that's really exciting. I'm also excited to work with Shani. I've worked with Shani in a different aspect on the screen before and I did a very small project with BOLD.
Also we've got an amazing cast and I'm excited about working with wonderful players who've had amazing experiences in theatre. We've got people like Suzy Kahane, Fabrizio Martini, Gabriel Paul, Aliya Roberts and Amanda Vilanova.
As for the character, I've never played the villain and I’ve always played the nice guy. So I'm super nervous but I'm in good hands.
Is a three-week rehearsal period adequate for staging a production?
With my experience on stage to date, three weeks is usually the sort of minimum amount of time that you have with something. We also have the week of previews where once everything's rehearsed, we put all the pieces in place. The week of previews is really where we're finding out the bits that work, the bits that don't, what needs tightening, what needs changing, if anything. It's and it's usually that week that you start to get a real sense of the show that you have, so the three weeks leading up to it are usually quite intense.
Then sometimes if things do go wrong, the beauty of theatre is that you just carry on. And because it's a panto, there's a lot of room for error and audience participation
Considering the incorporation of immigration and deportation themes in a comedic context, do you worry about potentially offending the audience?
While I hope that nobody is offended, it's important to recognise that regardless of the story or subject matter, there's a possibility of unintentionally offending someone, all with well-meaning intentions. What we have in our favour with the Panto is that all the cast are either first or second-generation immigrants. The Director herself has been through a similar ordeal where she faced potential deportation. During the rehearsal process we'll be able to see if any of us are offended in any way and make amends accordingly.
You have to use a bit of levity to be able to talk about a subject matter like this. When you're trying to use art to tell a story, you have to be brave and hope that people realise that the story that you're trying to tell has good intentions.
Are narratives from the South Asian diaspora adequately represented?
Simply put, I don't know. We have got a plethora of wonderful actors and companies that are putting on amazing productions and there are stories that are being brought to both theatre and television through the South Asian lens. All of this is great progress compared to the early 90s when I was coming up through theatre. Now we're looking at a landscape where there are many names who have done incredibly well for South Asian theatre, stories and aspiring young creatives.
I don't think ever is enough for anybody of any diaspora or any kind of background to want to tell a story about their culture or their history. There can always be more space, but it's going in the right direction. I’m hopeful and I feel very optimistic about the way that we're moving forward.
The previews for “Foreigner’s Panto” starts on October 3rd and then it plays every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday until the 28th of October.
