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The familiar creative writing class cliché, "write what you know," is referenced in The Real Ones. Taken literally, this platitude, which dismisses most literature from Shakespeare to Tolkien, may also explain why four of the five recent shows we've seen have had writers as their main characters. Despite citing this simplistic precept, playwright Waleed Akhtar's manages to avoid writing another self-indulgent dramatic diary and creates characters which resonate with the audience. The show raises some interesting questions about the bonds created by otherness, and the nature of friendship. Zaid and Neelam both come from rather rigid Pakistani families and both are outsiders: he because his is gay and she because she flaunts the sexual, and later the marital conventions, of her background. This sense of difference creates a bond between the two outsiders and allows them to share "real talk." The irony of this shared reality of alienation is that once they grow older they actually project their own values and aspirations onto each other. Indeed, they end up doing to their confidante what their families have done to them. Zaid cannot believe that Neelam does not want to be a playwright, and she is convinced that he should want a relationship that reflects heteronormative values. Later, when both achieve their dreams - his play is produced and she has children - there remains a sense of nonfulfillment for the two friends, yet despite this new common bond, it seems inevitable that they are destined to drift apart. All of the cast succeed beautifully in bringing this simple story to life, and as Zaid, Nathaniel Curtis does an excellent job of capturing the career driven young writer who is both more naïve and more focussed than his friend. As Neelam, Mariam Haque is simply extraordinary. She totally embodies her tough, acerbic character who is also very vulnerable, as she simultaneously rejects social norms and craves acceptance. In the The Real Ones Waleed Akhtar does a fine job of portraying a common and poignant experience of friends whose lives take apparently different paths. He manages to get beyond the trite writing class dictums and raise some genuine issues that reflect the lives of real people.
Rated: ★★★★
Reviewed by J.C.
Photo by Helen Murray
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