British-Asian cricket prodigy finds himself on a sticky wicket
Daniel Nelson
‘Today's report into widespread racism in cricket falls on the opening night of my play, Duck, that covers of discrimination and elitism in cricket. It's a sorry coincidence.’
Playwright maatin’s Tweet is correct: the recent blistering report on racism, sexism and elitism in English cricket reinforces the play’s depiction of the camouflaged prejudice behind the crushing of a British Muslim schoolboy’s prodigious sporting talent.
Non-spoiler alert: you do not need to be a cricket fan, or even to know anything about the game, to enjoy the 90-minute, one-man performance. Even the Arcola Theatre troupe publicising the production by staging a mock match outside the venue had to be instructed by a well-wisher on how to play!
Ismail, brought to life on stage by Omar Bynon (with the help of a handful of cricketing props, delightful back projections and a running commentary in the style of two well-known sports pundits), takes us through his cricket-mad boyhood and talented teens to meeting his nemesis - the snake in sheep’s clothing figure instinctively smelled out by every black and brown person in Britain - and scoring two catastrophic ducks in his public school’s top team. (For you unfortunates who are not devotees, a duck is the word for that near ultimate ignominy: a batter dismissed without scoring a run.)
His journey covers some of the racist tropes with which we are unfortunately so well acquainted: a nickname conferred because of his schoolmates’ inability, or unwillingness, to pronounce his real name; the false innocence of banter; the use of disguised language as a conveyor of bigoted stereotypes; and the “Tebbit test” of loyalty set by a Conservative MP of whether people from South Asia or the Caribbean in Britain support the England cricket team or a team from their country of origin.
Single-minded schoolboy enthusiasm gradually grows into awareness of social realities as the cricket theme draws in observations about Ismael’s family and friends, particularly his parents who sacrificed so much to make his life easier than theirs, and his non-English-speaking grandmother. There’s a nice running joke about his father’s obsession with a famous Indian cricketer.
It’s a warmly observed, gentle, humorous piece (even the subtler manifestations of racism provokes knowing laughs rather than anger), until a surprising twist towards the end, rammed home by powerful real-life recorded testimonies from British Muslims in the wake of a terrorist attack.
Duck is at the Arcola Theatre, 24 Ashwin Street, E8 4DL, until 15 July. Info: https://www.arcolatheatre.com/whats-on/duck/
+ 1 July, Post-show talk after the 3:30pm matinee
+ Theatre Weekly interview: maatin on Duck at Arcola Theatre