Review: Providers, Brixton House

There couldn’t be a story more current right now, as cuts to welfare support are hitting the news hard, and people with disabilities and mental health issues are those most impacted. Providers tells of two economically disadvantaged families struggling to keep their heads above water. It imagines what people can be driven to when they don’t have adequate support and make poor life choices. Aimed at ages 12+, the play has toured to London schools before arriving at Brixton House and is performed by a company of professional and ex-prisoner actors.

Mia lives with her older sister Christa, but since their mum died, Christa has struggled to keep money coming in, immobilised by grief and mental instability: they now risk losing their home. Similarly, after their parents’ return to Pakistan due to health issues, Saleem has been looked after by his older brother Yusuf, who runs a vape shop. The two fifteen year-olds become romantically involved and team up to make some money, but Saleem’s desire to help Mia out financially turns a sweet situation startlingly sour.

Synergy Theatre Company don’t pull punches here. Confronting themes of economic deprivation, a clear line is drawn between financial hardship and crime, describing some genuinely shocking moments. Ambreen Razia writes with enormous clarity and economy for a teen audience, and delivers this message through dialogue alive with vocabulary and familiar slang. It is palpably a work crafted for the young, no matter their background. She gives validity to a familiar world that is rarely examined, putting it centre stage, and also to the audience who share that validity being in the theatre space. The episodic structure of the play provides a momentum that is intensified by Esther Baker’s precision direction. Each scene has transparency and focus, meaning important ideas are spelled out without opportunity for misunderstanding, but with enough space for further discussion and enquiry post-show.

Razia’s succinctly drawn characters are engaging and believable, performed by a confident cast of four. Aamira Challenger conveys Christa’s mental health issues with a sensitive understatedness that reflects the character’s attempts to play down what is actually a huge problem. She’s ably supported by Daniella Henry who builds authenticity and vulnerability into the role of Mia that the audience unmistakably responded to. Along with Adil Hassan, she also provides much of the humour in the show. Hassan’s Saleem is delightful; a charismatic cheeky chappy who wants to help out but makes poor decisions that have distressing repercussions. It’s a standout moment when he compares Mia to an Android phone – beautifully written and delivered with charming humour and perfect timing. 

As Yusuf, Sunjay Midda seamlessly manages a nuanced transition from terrifying gangster into a sibling doing what he does out of love. Despite the drama he initiates, somehow we still sympathise with him as he reveals he hasn’t had the life he imagined for himself, his aspirations dashed by having to bring up Saleem. The human fragility of his circumstance is beautifully played; I’d love to see him doing Shakespeare in the future.

Come the end of the play, the young audience were buzzing with questions in the post-show talk and could be heard enthusing about how much they had enjoyed the show. It was as if they didn’t know theatre could be like this and were excited.

Humorous but also moving and occasionally shocking, this work has impact well beyond the theatre stage, doing so much more than simply entertaining. Presented in schools, pupil referral units and prisons, it actively enlightens and facilitates change for the future while supporting offender rehabilitation today. Indeed, it provides a unique space for ownership, disclosure and hope.

Written by: Ambreen Razia
Directed by: Esther Baker
Design by: Katy McPhee
Lighting Design by: Tony Simpson
Sound Design by: Sarah Weltman

Providers plays at Brixton House until Saturday 29 March.