Friendship, love, and geopolitics collide in this affecting play about two teenagers growing up in pre-partition India.
Guleraana Mir and Afshan D’souza-Lodhi have crafted a (mostly) joyous tale that explores the relationship between Santi (Aiyana Bartlett) and Naz (Farah Ashraf), as the British prepare to depart.
Life in their village begins to change, as does the dynamic between the two young women, as they start to explore love and as their families and society inevitably encroaches on their future paths.
Bartlett and Ashraf pull off the trick of playing children without infantilising them. Their behaviours and demeanour are youthful, but there are no cutesy voices or silly costumes. Instead we get a genuine-feeling friendship that is joyous, and pitted with occasional dispute, jealously, and confusion.
As Naz confronts the contrast of her arranged marriage and her feelings for Santi, Ashraf communicates richly through breathes, glances, and touches. The delivery is understated but crystal clear.
The politics and religion of partition run inextricably throughout the text and also in Sascha Gilmour’s design, giving a flavour of the time without intrusive exposition.
The play’s denouement catches you slightly unaware, but in retrospect feels almost inevitable – it is a complex web of violence, justice, joy, and desolation.
It’s a delicate and delightful tale.
- Santi & Naz was at Norwich Theatre Stage Two on 29 October 2024, then touring nationally.
