Duck – Jermyn Street Theatre, London

Writer: maatin

Director: Imy Wyatt Corner

While cricket is filled with tactical drama, strategy and complex passages of intense play, it all too rarely makes a subject for drama. New play Duck looks to rectify that with a tale of schoolboy cricket interrupted by racism and a period of poor form. Showing as part of Jermyn Street Theatre’s Footprints ’22 festival showcasing the work of its Creative Associates, Duck’s comedy monologue is pitched up and bounces nicely off the wicket.

At 14 years old, Ismail, known as “Smiley” hopes to be the youngest member of his school’s First XI. With cricket in his blood from a young age, plenty of talent and family discussions every day, much is expected from Ismail on the pitch. But a new teacher isn’t quite so enamoured and begins what feels like a campaign to bring the “boy” down.

maatin’s play gets off to a flying start and the character he creates is both easy to like and entertaining as he enthuses about the great game and his love of batting which fills every moment of his life. maatin employs a straightforward monologue device in which the hero recounts events, acts them out and plays a range of other people all of which give Duck an immersive quality in which the audience can easily imagine the world that this character inhabits.

This is enhanced by a voiceover commentary that adds to the comedy value, both narrating parts of Ismail’s life, especially his cricket performances, but also some of his internal monologue as the experts debate how he has reacted or feels. It is a little overused later in the piece, but it adds much to the happy style at the start. And Duck has plenty to say about the kind of racism scandals that recently engulfed professional clubs and while this show takes place in 2005, the unexplained and instant toxicity of the new teacher filters through the so-called team where incidences of racist bullying occur.

But the play loses some of its momentum in the final third of its 75-minute running time and having brought Ismail to his lowest point, it cannot find enough drama in the cricket alone to force a conclusion. Instead, maatin gets side tracked at a teenage party, in parental rows and major London events that are never fully explored or resolved. Duck’s big questions about dual heritage and the generational division between Ismail’s India-supporting father, obsessed with Sachin Tendulkar, and his England-supporting son are only properly aired in a political addendum that really belongs at the heart of the show and bringing these issues into the story earlier would be advantageous.

There is nonetheless a terrific performance from Gavi Singh Chera at its heart, full of energy and capturing the excessive highs and lows that only a teenage boy can experience. Singh Chera’s Ismail is sweet and likeable, making the audience root for him and for maatin’s play. With a few fielding changes, Duck could yet bowl you over.

Runs until 8 July 2022