Writer: Saher Shah
Director: Melina Namdar
Tackling taboo subjects like divorce, abuse and the silence created by gendered roles in Pakistani communities, Saher Shah’s Vitamin D transfers to the Soho Theatre following Larki who recently left her husband to move back to her parents’ home. This occasionally unfocused comedy-drama relies on character development and the vivid creation of family, friends and nosey neighbours that are often very funny to propel the action, but the play’s limited narrative and series of unfolding scenes make this a meandering 90 minutes.
Frustrated by an all-female community offering opinions about Larki’s past decisions and future choices, she refuses to engage in their thoughts on her broken marriage, move from Manchester to London or what it means to fulfil her role in society. Burdened by the projected shame of others but determined to find her own way, things come to a head at a local event where she meets women with similar experiences.
Built around the aftermath of a big life change for the central character, Vitamin D is an interesting attempt to shine a light on an often-unspoken aspect of marriage in the Pakistani community and the kinds of culturally and socially inherited expectations that generations of women accept, and Shah’s writing advocates for more conversation, greater openness and increased agency for young women to determine their own path. But the play relies largely on a single scene to really dig into the emotional impact of experiences that are too briefly alluded to in the rest of the story. Understandably, Shah doesn’t want Vitamin D to exploit that trauma by painting it in detail, but the play does need to yield more to give substance to that big crescendo argument with her Mama (Renu Brindle).
Instead, the play concerns itself with Larki’s relationships, an episodic approach that looks at the problematic nature of women’s conversations, inter-generational misunderstandings, patriarchal household roles and places where community support becomes thinly disguised judgement. Shah stages several conversations with Larki and her Friend (a very funny Anshula Bain), an interfering Aunty (Zyna Goldy) and her mother but Larki’s story, who she is and what she wants, gets lost in all of this additional noise.
Two scenes with a character known as Colleague played by Rosaleen Burton also try to address cultural appropriation, racial stereotyping and misplaced ideas of inclusivity when she says the wrong thing while prying inexplicably into Larki’s life. Colleague proves a very blunt instrument, a repetitive device that is not woven into the overall picture Shah is creating and could be cut entirely without affecting Larki’s trajectory. With so many ideas crossing over one another as the play moves between topics, it can be difficult for the audience to keep track of what Vitamin D is about and what its messages might be.
Shah could do more with the poetic linking segments where Larki briefly speaks to the audience about her interior developments, so perhaps extending these segments as a comparative commentary played against the scenes with secondary characters might bring more of Larki’s experience and its consequences into view without losing the community observation or the female solidarity it seeks.
Runs until 21 September 2024
