Review: Speed, Bush Theatre

Four strangers are brought together in the basement of a budget hotel in Birmingham. Three of them are serial road offenders, each with a road rage incident, here to take a new course – one last chance to keep their driver’s licence. Leading the course is Abz (Nikesh Patel), determined to slow them down by forcing them to address the sources of their anger.

All four participants are Asian, and it becomes clear that this is another reason they’ve been brought to the course – how they’re perceived by other drivers affects how they’re treated on the roads. The three offenders also reflect specific stereotypes: a boy racer, an overworked nurse, and a girlboss entrepreneur. Each participant has been deliberately selected by Abz as they fit a particular racial stereotype.

The three offenders are all well-played, the individual actors making their characters relatable while also revealing the simmering rage inside that has led them to this point. These are tricky roles, and could easily have slipped into caricature. Harleen (Sabrina Sandhu) and Samir (Arian Nik) lean into the flirtation, delivering great lines about how “it’s not speed dating.” Shazia Nicholls’ comic timing as Faiza is fantastic, as she manages to keep the girlboss just on the right side of caricature, where the script teeters, and her enthusiasm is infectious.

The trio have a real chemistry between them, initially defensive as to why they have ended up on this course and then as things start to seem a little off with Abz. Pitched as black comedy, parts of Mohamed-Zain Dada’sscript are very funny, with moments of sharp wit.

Abz too has a temper, something clearly going on under the surface and unravelling as the session goes on when he shouts and raves about his charges needing to control their anger. While Abz’s story isn’t developed well by the script, Patel more than commits and does strong work finding the balance between portraying unhinged alongside his desire to turn the three into safer drivers and better representatives of their community.

However, as things progress, it feels as though too many ideas have been thrown in to the play. Rather than homing in on what truly works, it opts for a broader pitch, leading to a drawn-out collapse and a reveal that both stretches plausibility and yet feels wholly predictable. The satire often feels disjointed when Speed veers into farce: it really runs off the road.

There are clearly strong moments in Milli Bhatia’s direction too. Sequences of physical theatre, with the offenders charging into the roomas they take their places for the course, are marked with impressive and aggressive movements (movement director Theophilus O. Bailey). The fast pace of the comedy doesn’t quite suit the narrative, and the violence feels unearned.

While the cast deliver strong performances and the script has real moments of genuine spark and wit and a story to tell, Speed struggles to find its lane. With too many ideas crammed into one roadtrip, it really feels like the gears are grinding by the end. There is lots of potential under the bonnet – but this one could use a clearer destination and a more direct route.

Written by: Mohamed-Zain Dada
Directed by: Milli Bhatia
Set and Costume Design by: Tomás Palmer
Lighting Design by: Jessica Hung Han Yun
Sound Design & Composed by: XANA
Movement Direction by: Theophilus O. Bailey

Speed plays at Bush Theatre until Saturday 17 May.