Review of Statues for The Live Review, October 2024
AN ODE TO SOCIETY
A review by Charlotte Mason-Mottram
“Statues,” thoughtfully written and powerfully performed by award-winning playwright Azan Ahmed, is a 70-minute sensation. This original play earned several applauses before it was even over, with concert-worthy rapping, code-switching performances, and seamless soliloquies that will leave you laughing, learning, and, most importantly, listening.
“Statues,” thoughtfully written and powerfully performed by award-winning playwright Azan Ahmed, is a 70-minute sensation. This original play earned several applauses before it was even over, with concert-worthy rapping, code-switching performances, and seamless soliloquies that will leave you laughing, learning, and, most importantly, listening.
Azan Ahmed and Jonny Khan captivated the audience, receiving welcomed bouts of laughter, the sort of head-bopping you might witness at a Stormzy concert, and the stillness and silence you might adopt at a funeral.
The play opens with Yusuf (Azan Ahmed) sorting through his late father’s possessions a few days after his passing. When he comes across some old tape recordings that he assumes are prayer readings, we are transported back to mid-1990s Britain.
Here, we are introduced to 17-year-old Mustafa (Yusuf’s father, also played by Ahmed) recording unruly rap with his best mate Omar (played by Ahmad’s brilliant co-star Jonny Khan). After hearing the music, Yusuf is stunned by the realisation that his introverted father was once an outspoken lyrical genius who spent the 90s plotting dreams of becoming a big-name rapper—proudly spitting bars about Pakistani culture, NW6 life, and falling in love.
Suddenly, Yusuf is met with more than grief. He must confront why his father was silenced and what living as an outsider in Britain was (and still is) like.
As the new head of English at his old secondary school, Yusuf throws himself into his job, keen to make a good impression. His job comes at a time when the government has launched Prevent in the education sector, requiring staff to report possible signs of radicalisation.
So, when Muslim student Khalil (also played by Khan) uses the problematic word “radical” to analyse Shakespeare’s infamous character Hamlet, Yusuf impulsively dismisses him to a higher authority, landing Khalil in serious trouble…
While some of the themes in Statues are universal experiences, like the grief of losing a loved one, I found some of the text confronting. As a white British woman with no diverse background, I realised my unconscious bias; I had never questioned the subjectivity of words like “radical” and my privilege of being able to speak freely without the risk of being identified as a potential threat to society.
Ahmed demonstrates his skilled code-switching, which assists him in seamlessly transitioning between an Oxford-educated secondary school teacher, a wise old aunt, and a rebellious teenage “Double MC.” He cleverly compares the silencing of specific cultures and withholding (freezing) feelings of grief with “statues.” At one point, Yusuf even loosens his limbs while admitting his emotions.
Statues is not only an ode (rap anthem) to the original code-switchers but a thought-provoking performance that audience members from all backgrounds would enjoy (not least for the impressive handshake Mustafa and Omar share).
Statues is running at Bush Theatre until 9 November.