Caneze’s first date with Sully in Nando’s is not going well. First, she slathers triple-strength piri piri sauce on her food. Then she announces that she is vegetarian. Worst, she reveals that her brother, Saif, is a player among the Pakistani gang community who will inflict grave violence on Sully if he discovers that Sully is going out with his sister.
There’s a lively touch of comedy to Emteaz Hussain’s play, jointly produced by the Belgrade and Tamasha, yet the sense of danger is palpable and oppressive. In one particularly well-drawn sequence, Sully is badly beaten by Saif’s goons, then presents Caneze with a volume of Sufi love poetry. His visit is followed by that of her family-approved fiance, who brings her a copy of Asian Bride magazine and discusses banqueting arrangements before brutally raping her.
The extraordinary thing about these supplementary characters is that none of them are actually presented on stage, except through Sully and Caneze’s references and passages of direct address. It’s hard to imagine a production of Romeo and Juliet where the existence of Tybalt has to be taken on trust. Yet in Esther Richardson’s intelligently sparse production, the characters’ tendency to internalise their worst fears makes the reason for their anxiety all the more vividly apparent.
Arun Ghosh’s electronic score functions almost as a third character, suggesting both the throb of the lovers’ hearts and the beatings awaiting them outside. And it is impossible not to warm to the performances of Krupa Pattani as Caneze, who gently chides Adam Samuel-Bal’s Sully for his gauche attempts to play the gangsta. His hip-hop deconstruction of college canteen slop is particularly endearing: young, working-class Asian males often receive a bad rap; Hussain deserves credit for a compassionate portrayal of one who raps so badly.
• Until 11 April. Venue: Belgrade, Coventry. Box office: 024-7655 3055. Then touring until 27 June.
