Two Billion Beats (NHB Modern Plays)

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Safiyya Ingar and Anoushka Chadha beautifully portray the sisters with such depth and humour, pushing each other’s buttons with rage and burning sisterly love…Energetic and gripping.” North West End

Strictly speaking, Two Billion Beats is not a two-hander. The hamster appears in the fur towards the end of the play, but is sadly uncredited. Whoever you are, you did a bang-up job. Ultimately the play is rather let down by a degree of early-career shakiness. For starters, it’s weird to explicitly set it in Leicester and not bother with Leicester accents. A laboured attempt to indict Asha’s teacher of Karen-ist hypocrisy feels like it’s been approached completely wrongly (it hinges on the idea Emmeline Pankhurst is as big a sacred cow as Gandhi). And the bullying saga spirals out of control in a way that serves Asha‘s newfound philosophical beliefs well, but is, to be blunt, totally ridiculous.First seen in a 20-minute version in April 2021, as part of the Orange Tree's foray into theatrical streaming Outside, Two Billion Beats is Sonali Bhattacharyya's engaging and vibrant play that explores the relationship between two South Asian teenage sisters as they confront injustice, racism and the realities of growing up. The most interesting thing about Bhattacharyya’s play is the manner by which Asha takes on board the teachings of Ambedkar – and later Sylvia Pankhurst – and ends up applying them to her own life: her outlook on the world shifts, but quite subtly and interestingly, with meaningful consequences for how the story plays out. Be ready for a lot of laughs, bring your siblings! Have those conversations and please just have fun. The last thing I want is for people to think this play is just about this deep social political commentary. It’s not just that, it’s about a deep familial relationship, it’s about competitiveness, about sibling rivalry, about school kids, Tik Tok, it’s all there. Come and have fun with us! The return of this exhilarating production following its acclaimed world premiere at the OT in 2022.

Duru invokes the girls’ landscape with minimal details – a bus-stop bench and a school ‘Main Entrance’ sign. Apparently the school is ‘outstanding in all areas’. The teachers do work hard. When Bettina interrupts a lesson on climate change with a question about asylum seekers (only ‘to look badass’) her teacher takes her seriously and gives her a book about Malala. You do realise, however, that school is sometimes a blunt instrument. Mrs L tells Ash to ‘draw examples from her own experience’ – Gandhi and Ambedkar being suitable. The essay on Sylvia Pankhurst is less successful – but is that really because she was a white woman, as Ash believes, or because Ash hasn’t fully understood her views? The minimalist stage of the Orange Tree Theatre lends itself beautifully to the play’s primary setting: the bus stop where the sisters wait after school. An indicator board gives the times of the next buses as they argue and banter, talking over their experiences at school, political figures, racism and Islamophobia. The setting gives these scenes an authenticity: the bus stop, and mundane outdoor spaces more generally, are familiar spaces of teenage reflection, particularly when contrasted with a tense or claustrophobic home environment. The function of heroes within an intrinsically racist society once again arises in Asha’s own relationship with Gandhi. She wonders whether her teacher is more comfortable with her writing critically on Gandhi and Ambedkar, ‘two brown dudes’, than on revered British heroine-figures the Pankhursts. This does not deter Asha, however, from adding Sylvia Pankhurst’s work to the mix as she strives to find her own political voice.Asha is waiting to go home until their mum has left for work so she doesn’t have to talk about her history essay. She got 85%, but her mum only cares about the fact that she criticised Gandhi’s views on the Dalit, the lowest Indian caste of "untouchables". Asha admires B R Ambedkar, the lawyer (and Dalit himself) who played a key role in drafting the Indian constitution. Her mum thinks her teacher won’t be so complimentary when Asha goes for her heroes, the Pankhursts. Bettina just wants her sister to help her deal with Adil and the other bullies on the bus. And also a hamster, whom she plans on naming after Cardi B. Asha is full of righteous indignation at the way that the Dalit were (and are) treated, at the slander Sylvia Pankhurst’s pacifism provoked from her mother and sister. She’s compassionate but proud too, flush with teenage conviction that she is right. There’s a palpable change in Ingar when it becomes clear that a throwaway comment from Bettina could have a lasting impact on Muslim Adil’s life, as if we’re watching Asha grow up in front of our eyes. In such areas, Bhattacharyya’s dialogue is beautifully nuanced between the competing forces of moral rage and personal yearnings, public affairs and private ones.

The play moves swiftly between many themes – racism, Islamophobia, intergenerational dialogue, sibling and parent/child relationships, political awakening, history – but these are woven together seamlessly and never feel jarring or overwhelming. The characters are not merely vehicles for political statements. Instead the play authentically captures an era in which coming of age is often synonymous with developing a progressive political stance. Conscientious and questing, she may have just got excellent marks for her history essay but, in her mother’s eyes she has committed an unpardonable slander in daring to criticise the Mahatma; if anything should be untouchable, it is his reputation. Not so, argues Ascha; the proper object of admiration should be none other than a Dalit, B. R. Ambedkar, who played a crucial role in drafting the Indian constitution.The relationship between the siblings is very believable and the chemistry between the actors is palpable; the younger sister wants sympathy and validation from her older sibling, who rejects her and finds her annoying. It is a very recognisable scenario. This timely and thoughtful new play from Sonali Bhattacharyya…compellingly shows that the stakes can be high when people – especially women – from a diaspora community raise their voices.” WhatsOnStage

Anoushka Chadha is a visibly younger and more naïve Bettina, who idolises her older sister. She holds no discernible political view; her world is contained within her home and school. Chadha exhibits many recognisable physical traits of a young girl; her fingers worry at the ends of her sleeves; she constantly shuffles her feet. Even the manner in which her voice often slides into a higher pitch is very convincing. I know so many people, not just women, whatever your gender, if you’re part of the diaspora community, come and see this. You’ll have something from your own community that will reflect and ping out as an argument you constantly need to have, or a slur you’re constantly called, or a question you’re constantly confronted with about Britain’s history. We are now really having these frank conversations about how distressing they were, how disgusting they were, how they created generational trauma. And it isn’t going to just wash away – this denial of the British empire and what they did to our countries and these communities, it needs to be spoken about, and attitudes need to change! How have rehearsals been going so far? Nimmo Ismail's pacey direction means there is no lull in the energy of the production. Asha and Bettina constantly move; walking, climbing and once breaking into a joyful dance. There has been real consideration of the space of the Orange Tree, with Debbie Duru's simple design capturing the concrete surroundings of the girls' school.Bouncing with wit, Sonali Bhattacharyya’s upbeat play is a coming-of-age story about the unfairness of growing up in a world where you don’t make the rules. Sonali Bhattacharyya was 2018 Channel 4 writer in residence at the OT, where she wrote Chasing Hares, winning the Sonia Friedman Production Award and Theatre Uncut Political Playwriting Award, produced at the Young Vic in 2022. Director Nimmo Ismail; Designer Debbie Duru; Lighting Designer Alex Fernandes; Sound Designer Tingying Dong; Movement Director Chi-San Howard; Associate Movement Director Tian Brown-Sampson; Casting Director Christopher Worrall. A two-handed coming of age story set in the round, about many things, but most notably accepting the nuanced flaws of individuals. Written by young award-winning playwright Sonali Bhattacharyya, the play maintains her focus on illuminating the stories of the marginalised and democratising dramatization. It delves into numerous topical and ethical questions of morality and our selection of role models. It aims to prescribe and confront too many contemporary societal issues, sometimes without forming the full necessary space for their exploration. The elder girl, Ascha, has a problem nearer home; at home, in fact. It is her mother. While Ascha is a clever and motivated student, she has offended her deeply by daring to take issue with Gandhi. The play features frequent cutaways and introspective soliloquies delivered by its lead, Asha (Shala Nyx). These are often followed by the loudspeakers serenading us with the dulcet tones of B R Ambedkar and Sylvia Pankhurst. In contrast Bettina (Tanvi Virmani), delivers a refreshing comedic reprieve with a delicate touch. Both actors bring strong, lively performances and successfully convey the source material engagingly.