Our childhood friendships are perhaps some, or if not our most significant ones. Our friends our main support system beyond the family setting brought together by shared experiences such as a sharing of culture and heritage. An exploration of friendship and the short hand shared by two young Muslim men brought up in a racially discriminate environement, Karim Khan presents Brown Boys Swim.
In their final year of college, friends Kash (Varun Raj) and Moshen (Anish Roy) show clear signs of going down different paths, Kash ready to see where life will take him and go with the flow, Moshen your A* grade student set to take up a university spot at the prestigious Oxford University. We’re presented with an authentic, endearing portrait of teenagehood – both friends aware of the racial tensions that continually follow them around, from their initial swimming session where they’re constantly stared at, to wrongly being stopped and searched whilst out shopping in town – a humiliating encounter sadly experienced by many.
The show’s core follows the pair’s swimming journey, from initial swimming lessons to the pair becoming competent swimmers – it’s within these lessons do we see the friend’s powerful bond, pride and competition intertwined with an opportunity to open up and talk about the issues affecting them both. The obvious camaraderie that they share a captivating dynamic to watch play out, a clash in ideologies about how to behave and integrate – Moshen proud of his cultural roots and not afraid of what others think, and Kash showing a willingness to assimilate and adopt British customs forms the undercurrent of their friendship, although there’s a similarity in background, there’s a difference in outlook which is relatable to see.
John Hoggarth directs a slick, engaging hour, one that smoothly ties the determination of learning how to swim with the day to day realities of Kash and Moshen, two teens although with some idea as to what the future will hold, battle the now, battle breaking down barriers and the heaviness that this responsibility holds.
Written by Lucy Basaba.
Brown Boys Swim is currently showing until Sunday 28th August 2022 at the Pleasance Dome – Queen Dome as part of this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. To find out more about the production, visit here…
Leave a Comment