Writer: Karim Khan
Director: Natasha Kathi-Chandra
A meet-cute in a diabetes management workshop is one of the more unusual rom-com openers, but Karim Khan’s Sweetmeats deliberately defies a number of the genre’s conventions with a burgeoning relationship between two older people, both of whom have lost their spouses but who also represent a cultural divide between British-Indian and British-Pakistani communities. A slightly uneven structure in director Natasha Kathi-Chandra’s production slows the pace of this Bush Theatre premiere, yet the chemistry between the two leads has plenty of antagonistic entertainment.
Hema and Liaquat meet unexpectedly, and she is instantly irritated by his habits and lax attitude toward diabetes. Continually hoping to goad her into eating sweets and a touch of misbehaviour, the pair slowly get to know one another at their weekly meetings until an accident threatens their friendship, and their lonely state brings them together.
Sweetmeats has plenty of charm and the writing for the central couple is very strong, a believable and caustic connection with both characters quietly enjoying the banter – not that they’d ever admit it – and the roles they cast themselves into; Hema as a grouchy Indian woman who likes to find fault with her new friend while Liaquat is a laissez faire rogue who equally delights in riling her up. That both are really kind people looking for connection with few people of their own age to turn to only adds to the inevitable friendship they develop, and to Khan’s ability to create investment in them both is appealing.
The problems come in when Hema and Liaquat are given independent scenes on their own to create the personal depth that could be better established through their conversations. More room is given to Liaquat living alone and not coping while listening to tapes recorded by his late wife – a reference perhaps to Krapp’s Last Tape without the Beckettian existential gloom to deepen the concept. In Khan’s play, there are just too many of these pause moments that do not deliver quite as much new insight as the production supposes. Neither does the extended cooking scene that facilitates the establishment of the friendship, but feels like a film montage, making what is probably 70-80 minutes of material into a 2.5-hour show with an interval.
Fortunately, the performances mitigate a good deal of that with Shobu Kapoor’s Hema, both a forceful and nervous woman unwilling to let any opportunity for criticism slide but equally worried about standing up for her son and the growing feelings she experiences. Rehan Sheikh as Liaquat is a likeable presence, a man a little lost on his way and unable to keep a grip of the day to day but enjoying the chatter with Hema and the chance to see beyond himself again. Together, they have an easy chemistry, two great actors finding the rhythm in Khan’s writing, which only adds to the idea that more conversation could change the pitch of Sweetmeats.
Aldo Vázquez has designed a multifunctional set that offers two living spaces, a kitchen, bus stop and the workshop room where the couple meet, detailed work that supports the multiple locations, although occasionally the play calls out for something more fluid to enhance the pace. It could also say more about the challenges of dual nationality and age, while exploring the sparing references to India and Pakistan’s contentious history might also add texture to their interaction, as would some sense of Hema’s family and their views on this new friendship. Khan’s story is sweet, but as his characters know, a little sweetness goes a long way.
Runs until 21 March 2026
