Run, Rebel – Traverse Theatre

Run, Rebel is an award-winning young adult fiction novel, which has garnered significant praise for its punchy verse led telling of life within a traditional Indian family in Britain. The story received Guardians Best Book of 2020 award.

Amber Rai is a fifteen-year-old who lives with her non-English speaking parents on a tough estate somewhere in middle England. Her home life has never been easy, her mother and older sister all try hard to avoid and placate their temperamental domineering and sometimes violent, alcoholic father. He is determined to impose the traditional Indian values on his wife and children, and the older sister, Ruby (Simran Kular) has already flown the coop, choosing to go along with an arranged marriage as a way to escape, the lesser of two evils. But she is already having second thoughts on whether she has ever even really loved her new husband.

Amber is determined that she will not face the same fate. School offers some outlet, where Amber excels amongst other things at running which provides a feeling of liberty and freedom as an antidote for her home life. She also finds inspiration not just through her good friends but also through history lessons on revolution which begin to spark in her, the idea of rebellion.

Manjeet Mann, working alongside director, Tessa Walker has been a close collaborator in the adaptation of her own much-praised 2020 novel, and there is no denying that they have created between them, an excellently written and very watchable production. Creating an 11+ play that can appeal to a wide cross-section and a varied demographic is no easy feat and I have no wish to be over-critical of it. Any production which retains the attention of young teens for over two hours, as this one certainly seems to have done in multiple locations, is damn amazing in my book! However, it did feel a bit long and the issues of bullying, domestic abuse, friendships and relationships, rebellion and women in sport were all explored but in what felt a sanitised way, never darkly enough to allow the light sections to really shine with hope. Which is a shame.

It is by no means all flat, on the contrary, the acting by the six-strong cast is universally excellent throughout, sparky, rhythmic and lyrical, with all apart from Amber playing multiple roles seamlessly. There are also some rather magical moments, no more so than the kitchen scene where Amber and her father are having a rare, father/daughter moment cooking an old Indian chicken dish together, dancing and singing Bollywood tunes until the spell is inevitably broken by his old alcoholic habits. Beautifully touching, funny and sad all at the same time. Brilliant!

The lively musical soundtrack deserves a special mention, as does the staging which is creatively and cleverly handled. Central to the production is a skateboard ramp, which forms a U-shape in the middle of the stage. This is used as a running track, a seat at home, or the park railings, cleverly incorporated into nearly every scene. To the rear of the stage, three large screens allow for quirky video projection and a range of props in plain view are wheeled out as required, including the inevitable, ‘dad’s arm chair’, the throne from which the king barks his orders.

Jessica Kaur as Amber and Pushpinder Chani as the father (Harbans) are stand out performers, with Kaur in particular managing to somehow wring every possible emotion from her two and a half hour stamina-filled performance.

Reviewer: Greg Holstead

Reviewed: 8th November 2024

North West End UK Rating:

Running time – 2hrs 30mins (with interval)