There’s an interesting, playful and ever-shifting dynamic between the comedy and tragedy masks of theatre in this play, which grapples with such a wide range of issues from the challenge some people have with looking after both a baby and an elderly parent to the bureaucratic logistics of getting a loved one’s ashes transported overseas to their country of origin. Though this production manages to make even regulations and paperwork riveting, and a side remark about India having effectively inherited its current system of red tape from the British Empire was as cutting as it was true.
Tanika Gupta’s script is strong and consistently convincing in its portrayal of the life and times of Queenie (Meera Syal), who lost her husband Ameet (Zubin Varla) and has never been the same since. A diagnosis of early onset Alzheimer’s reveals Queenie’s sharp tongue is not only reserved for chiding her grown-up children – it was a little like watching Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, a Channel 4 Television programme in the mid-2000s, which saw Gordon Ramsay ranting and raving at people running restaurants badly, not mastering the basics like stock control, planning of menus and treating staff (and indeed customers) reasonably.
There aren’t any scenes of Queenie in her heyday, running a busy restaurant, which in hindsight I would have liked to have seen, to contrast with the one the audience does see, where her diary is completely out of sync with the actual calendar and her trusty chef (Avita Jay) has already prepared the menu for the day, as she had been doing for some time. There is an added complication to Queenie’s future, which isn’t quite so much to do with Indian culture but rather a promise Queenie asked her three grown-up children to agree to, namely that she wouldn’t be put in a care home, but rather looked after by her family.
Dementia being a progressive syndrome, it isn’t long before Raj (Raj Balal), Gopal (Marc Elliott) and Kamala (Natalie Dew) are struggling to cope with looking after Queenie, not least because she is more often than not adamant that there’s nothing at all wrong with her and it’s everyone else who is being ridiculous. Ameet makes regular appearances, in Queenie’s warped mind: the children work this out eventually. There’s an impressive amount of detail packed into this show, which never felt hurried, and held my attention throughout. Some of what Queenie said drew audible gasps from some patrons on press night – are her putdowns really what she meant to say or are they outward symptoms of diminishing mental faculties? Her bolshy nature came in rather handy a generation ago when she defied racial taunts and insults to set up what became a thriving and successful local business.
Then there were the public health restrictions in 2020, which made it impossible for any of Queenie’s relatives to visit her, bringing more heartache and despair for everyone all round. Elsewhere, some stage trickery was a sight to behold – the show has an illusions director (John Bulleid) for a reason, and while I am naturally restricted as to what I can say about what happened, some of it was comparable to what you might see at Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Syal’s Queenie was simultaneously abrasive and amusing in her forthrightness. This was not an easy play to sit through. No matter. An utterly compelling watch, I was thoroughly engaged from start to finish.
Review by Chris Omaweng
“I’m falling through a world which makes no sense.”
An ambitious Michelin-Star chef, Queenie is used to having the last word.
But when her children notice gaps in her memory and her grip on reality loosening, they are faced with an impossible choice. As Raj, Gopal and Kamala battle to reconcile their life-long duty to their mother, the ramifications of their decision take on a heartbreaking performance.
CAST
Raj – Raj Bajaj
Kamala – Natalie Dew
Gopal – Marc Elliott
Doctor Young / Jeff / Pavel / Paramedic 1 / Security Guard – Stephen Fewell
Indrani – Shobna Galati
Jamila / Sanjivini / Bureaucrat / Nurse / Care Worker / Paramedic 2 – Avita Jay
Queenie – Meera Syal
Ameet – Zubin Varla
CREATIVES
Writer – Tanika Gupta
Director – Pooja Ghai
Set and Costume Designer – Rosa Maggiora
Lighting Designer – Matt Haskins
Composer – Nitin Sawhney
Sound Designer – Elena Peña
Illusions Director and Designer – John Bulleid
Movement Director – Anjail Mehra
Fight and Intimacy Directors – Rachel Bown-Williams and Ruth Cooper-Brown of Rc-Annie Ltd
A TUPPERWARE OF ASHES
Dorfman Theatre, National Theatre, South Bank, London SE1 9PX
Approximately 2 hours 30 minutes including an interval
25 September to 16 November 2024
