Two Billion Beats (NHB Modern Plays)

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Seventeen-year-old Asha is an empathetic rebel, inspired by historical revolutionaries and iconoclasts Sylvia Pankhurst and B R Ambedkar. She’s unafraid of pointing out the hypocrisy around her but less sure how to actually dismantle it.

In the loving but spikey relationship between this pair of sisters no reputations are entirely safe, not even that of the much-sanctified Mahatma Gandhi, for his dismissive views on the Dalit, the lowest of India’s caste of Harijans, or “ Untouchables.”What will happen, their mother wonders, if – or rather when – the history being studied is British rather than Indian, and such revered figures as the Pankhursts fall under Ascha’s rebellious scrutiny. Seventeen-year-old Asha is an empathetic rebel, inspired by historical revolutionaries and iconoclasts Sylvia Pankhurst and B R Ambedkar. She’s unafraid of pointing out the hypocrisy around her but less sure how to actually dismantle it. The minimalist stage of the Orange Tree Theatre lends itself beautifully to the play’s primary setting: the bus stop where the sisters wait after school. An indicator board gives the times of the next buses as they argue and banter, talking over their experiences at school, political figures, racism and Islamophobia. The setting gives these scenes an authenticity: the bus stop, and mundane outdoor spaces more generally, are familiar spaces of teenage reflection, particularly when contrasted with a tense or claustrophobic home environment.

This timely and thoughtful new play from Sonali Bhattacharyya…compellingly shows that the stakes can be high when people – especially women – from a diaspora community raise their voices” WhatsOnStage With just the two on-stage characters, there’s a lot of exposition rather than dramatization, and a lot of recollections of events that had already taken place. I think the actors would have been more than capable of personifying, for instance, the siblings’ mother, or at least some of the other pupils they regularly interact with, whether constructively and positively or not. I’m not sure the inclusion of an actual hamster, albeit in a suitable cage, added much to proceedings, though there are, at least, no concerns over animal welfare to report. the play authentically captures an era in which coming of age is often synonymous with developing a progressive political stance” The presence of South Asian characters in British theatre is not the extreme rarity it once was. Whilst South Asians and people of colour more widely are still hugely underrepresented in theatre – as actors, writers, directors and in storylines – there has undoubtedly been some progress in recent years. What remains less visible, however, is South Asian characters engaging in rich discussions of history in all its complexity, from a questioning, left-wing perspective. If this is not for you, you should probably avoid playwright and Momentum activist Sonali Bhattacharyya’s Two Billion Beats, showing now at London’s Orange Tree Theatre.

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Duru invokes the girls’ landscape with minimal details – a bus-stop bench and a school ‘Main Entrance’ sign. Apparently the school is ‘outstanding in all areas’. The teachers do work hard. When Bettina interrupts a lesson on climate change with a question about asylum seekers (only ‘to look badass’) her teacher takes her seriously and gives her a book about Malala. You do realise, however, that school is sometimes a blunt instrument. Mrs L tells Ash to ‘draw examples from her own experience’ – Gandhi and Ambedkar being suitable. The essay on Sylvia Pankhurst is less successful – but is that really because she was a white woman, as Ash believes, or because Ash hasn’t fully understood her views? Two Billion Beats left me with much to process and reflect on, but one message came through clear: we must crucially examine our understanding of mainstream heroes. Such probing questions may just be a step towards radical social justice. Nimmo Ismail's pacey direction means there is no lull in the energy of the production. Asha and Bettina constantly move; walking, climbing and once breaking into a joyful dance. There has been real consideration of the space of the Orange Tree, with Debbie Duru's simple design capturing the concrete surroundings of the girls' school.

Unfortunately this has massively pissed off her mum, which is why we findAsha killing time after school until her mum’s nightshift begins. Meanwhile, it becomes apparent Bettina has problems of her own: some kids have been bullying her on the bus home, and she’s clinging to Asha in the hope her big sister might lamp her oppressors. Be ready for a lot of laughs, bring your siblings! Have those conversations and please just have fun. The last thing I want is for people to think this play is just about this deep social political commentary. It’s not just that, it’s about a deep familial relationship, it’s about competitiveness, about sibling rivalry, about school kids, Tik Tok, it’s all there. Come and have fun with us! The two actors have a nice, sparky chemistry together: Chadha is sweet and Ingar is sassy but there’s a real easy warmth between them and a sense of their care for each other.Asha is waiting to go home until their mum has left for work so she doesn’t have to talk about her history essay. She got 85%, but her mum only cares about the fact that she criticised Gandhi’s views on the Dalit, the lowest Indian caste of "untouchables". Asha admires B R Ambedkar, the lawyer (and Dalit himself) who played a key role in drafting the Indian constitution. Her mum thinks her teacher won’t be so complimentary when Asha goes for her heroes, the Pankhursts. Bettina just wants her sister to help her deal with Adil and the other bullies on the bus. And also a hamster, whom she plans on naming after Cardi B. Asha is full of righteous indignation at the way that the Dalit were (and are) treated, at the slander Sylvia Pankhurst’s pacifism provoked from her mother and sister. She’s compassionate but proud too, flush with teenage conviction that she is right. There’s a palpable change in Ingar when it becomes clear that a throwaway comment from Bettina could have a lasting impact on Muslim Adil’s life, as if we’re watching Asha grow up in front of our eyes. The younger sister, Bettina – Year Ten to Ascha’s Year Thirteen – can be seen as a victim of this fall-out. All she wants is for Ascha to be on the bus home with her so that she doesn’t have to receive the unwelcome, even bullying, attentions of Adil and his mates. Bouncing with wit, Sonali Bhattacharyya’s upbeat new play is a coming-of-age story about the unfairness of growing up in a world where you don’t make the rules. A blazing account of inner city British-Asian teenage life, this exhilarating world premiere asks what the cost of speaking up really is. Originally presented as a short play as part of the OT’s Inside/Outside livestreams in 2021. This timely and thoughtful new play from Sonali Bhattacharyya…compellingly shows that the stakes can be high when people – especially women – from a diaspora community raise their voices.” WhatsOnStage But Asha’s mum is not keen on her daughter criticising the saint of Indian independence. Not so great. Especially as Asha quotes from the Dalit activist BR Ambedkar, who came into conflict with Gandhi (and lost) during the creation of the Indian state. But her teacher, Mrs L, is delighted with her pupil. Things change, however, when Asha turns her idealistic eye to the British Suffragettes. Although Mrs L’s heroes are Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst, Asha criticises them from the point of view of Sylvia, the more radical one of the family. Not so great. Her enthusiasms for the great idealists of history, however, are really put to the test when Bettina tells her she is being bullied.

Safiyya Ingar is an energetic Asha; fiercely intelligent and bursting with energy and indignation at the unfairness of life. The character embraces all the idealism of youth with an uncompromising commitment to her principals, exasperated with what she sees as injustice and double standards in the world. Ingar is spirited and brimming with energy; she shows defiance and pride, but also snippets of vulnerability, especially regarding her sometimes fractious relationship with her mother.This spiritedcoming-of-age dramafrom Sonali Bhattacharyya is by no means perfect, but it certainly has some neat ideas, and is given a likeable inaugural production by Nimmo Ismail.