A stroppy teenager (belligerent, whiny, attitudinising Rochi Rampal) complains on an airport concourse. When her mother promised a mystery holiday, she was hoping for "somewhere special… Ibiza or Center Parcs". Instead, they are in the (unnamed) homeland the mother left with the child in her womb, waiting to be met by "your people" – sneers the westernised daughter; "our people," retorts her mother (anxious, put-upon Bharti Patel). Rani Moorthy's play takes her characters on a journey that engagingly explores the gap between these identity-shaping perspectives.
Four actors on a raised platform washed in warm light transport us through space – to the mother's village home – and time – to the happy, sad and terrifying memories she uncovers there. This storyline was inspired by workshops with women from south Asia, the Middle East and Africa now living in Sheffield. Karen Simpson's direction, with its imaginative use of mime and puppetry, brings out a fairytale quality in their amalgamated experiences. The past, as the line goes, is another country. Here, the migrant effort to communicate with a host country-raised generation becomes a touching metaphor for the struggle between all parents and children towards reconciliation and understanding.
