Director: Sophie Bertrand Besse
Fancy going to Sudan? Mohand and Peter will transport you from grey Southwark to the hot desert lands of Sudan through movement, mime and comedy. Mohand Hasb Alrosol Abdalrahem and Peter Pearson give winning performances, but their show’s naiveté is both a strength and a weakness.
Mohand would love to go back to Sudan, but until it’s safe for him to do so, his only way back is through his imagination. Taking his Newcastle friend with him, Mohand returns to the noisy and colourful city of Khartoum. There are some funny moments as they try to cross a busy road. Mohand dodges through the traffic, but Peter says he’d rather wait for the (non-existent) green man.
There is also great comedy in the scenes where Mohand introduces Peter to his extensive family. Abdairahem plays all the other roles, most mainly in Arabic. His timing is immaculate whether he plays Mohand’s bear of a father or Mohand’s flirtatious cousin who has marriage on her mind. Pearson does well with the Englishman abroad who loves all he sees but who also complains about the weather.
The protest scene should be the focus of this show and a chance to relate to the audience the political issues happening in Sudan at the moment, but despite the flag waving and the helicopters this segment is mainly played for laughs too, and the audience learns nothing of Sudan and is none the wiser to why Mohand can’t go back. It seems a missed opportunity and soon Mohand and Peter are pretending to be camels in the desert.
With such little attention to the political situation in Sudan, the tone of Mohand and Peter suggests that it’s aimed at school audiences rather than the 8pm show at Southwark Playhouse. Its charm is undeniable and Sudan is conjured up well in Ioana Curelea’s set where the floor is the colour of sand and where a Sudanese tambourine represents the sun and the moon, but overall it lacks bite. The narrative, too, runs out of steam and the end doesn’t quite feel right.
After the play, there is music and song in the Southwark Playhouse’s bar. The musicians change but some nights Mohamed Sorrar will be there with his darbuka, a Sudanese goblet drum, and his performance is full of drama.
Runs until 2 April 2022
The Reviews Hub Score
Charming
