Evening Conversations ★★★ Soho Theatre | Oct 31 - Nov 12, 2022


Sudha Bhuchar is a performer who has appeared on television, in film and on stage. However, in this reading she discusses her challenging role as a mother and a homemaker. With a charmingly wry sense of humour, she talks about the generational and cultural gap between herself her two sons. She also shares some wise and sharp observations about life in general and her own career. This is an intelligent show that is bound to stimulate discussion amongst the audience members, and at the same time, it presents situations which will ring amusingly true for everyone who has been a parent or who has felt somewhat bewildered by the younger generation's approach to life. Bhuchar does not shy away from the difficult subjects of racism and politics, but she addresses them with the same dry insight and self-reflective equilibrium that she brings to her dissection of her dialogues with her children. There is so much to enjoy in these meditations! Unfortunately, a combination of poor acoustics and inadequate amplification did not always make it easy to hear what was being read. The venue's setup and some of the staging also meant that it is not always easy to see Bhuchar. These are seriously unfortunate lapses because this is not a particularly dramatic piece of theatre. Everything depends on the narrator making and maintaining an emotional contact with the audience. The evening recalled for us the wonderful readings of David Sedaris, and we only hope we will soon have a printed version of Sudha Bhuchar's musings which we can read and savour at our leisure.

Rated: ★★★

Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Harry Elletson.

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