REVIEW: VITAMIN D by Saher Shah at Rosemary Branch Theatre 14 – 16 March 2023 & on tour

‘The settings are so rich, and the characters have so much unexplored potential that this could easily be a six-part sitcom’ ★★★★★ 

Vitamin D is a play about the trials and tribulations (mostly trials) of being a young, South Asian divorcee.

Larki (Saher Shah) moves back in with her parents following the collapse of her marriage. She hasn’t really spoken about the details with anyone, but those around her suspect there may have been some abuse or cheating going on. As she starts on her path to recovery, not really knowing what she wants, Larki is inundated by swarms of overbearing “aunties” who feed off gossip and dish out unwanted advice.

There’s spades of laugh-out loud comedy in this production. Noor Hadid’s portrayal of Larki’s best friend will leave you in stitches. But beneath the facade of humour, there’s a real sadness to the story. Larki’s own trauma is gently threaded throughout, coming to a head in an impassioned scene with her mother (featuring some genuinely breathtaking acting from Shah, who also wrote the play).

Larki is quite a serious character, contrasting starkly with her often silly or annoying supporting cast. This works well as it creates an atmosphere in which none of them really understands or truly empathises with the struggles she is going through.

Unsurprisingly, women are the focus of this all-female play. That being said, the looming presence of unnamed men can be felt throughout the production, like the unseen strings of patriarchy ensnaring some of the characters in its web. For instance, Bestie (Anisa Butt) has one really funny speech that’s brutally undercut with sadness, as we realise that she’s not as happy in her married life as she’d like others to believe. The balance of tragedy and comedy works harmoniously in moments like this.

While this story is definitely critical of structures within the community it portrays, it’s also a tender depiction of friends and family expressing their love for one another. While Larki’s mother genuinely wants what’s best for her daughter, she struggles to understand what’s going on in her head sometimes. This play looks at what binds and separates different generations within the family unit.

There’s one white character in the story- an excruciating colleague of Larki’s. Not only does the protagonist endure pressure coming from within her family, but she also has to fend off a barrage of microaggressions from the white British people she encounters in everyday life. There’s a real groaning humour to this storyline that pokes fun at the white fragility of those who would say they are progressives (and definitely NOT racists).

Larki is brought up in a household where her family speak a number of languages. The decision to include long sections in Urdu / Punjabi builds the authenticity of the multiple-language household and forces those who don’t understand the spoken words to read the visual subtext of the scene.

I feel like when I see that fringe theatre is longer than an hour, I’m immediately suspicious it will justify its length without dragging on. Vitamin D is never boring and its pace is well-managed throughout. In fact, as the standing ovation it received would suggest, I and everyone else in the theatre wanted it to continue past its two hour (including interval) time span. The settings are so rich, the characters have so much unexplored potential that this could easily be a six-part sitcom. I want to see it happen.

Photo credit: Amin Ali at LOWD

Vitamin D by Saher Shah

Look for the Woman Festival

At Rosemary Branch, Islington

14th-16th March at 7.30pm

Tickets: https://www.rosemarybranchtheatre.co.uk/show/vitamin-d-2#Widget-Container

Tour https://linktr.ee/sahershah

Writer Twitter: @TheSaherShah

Cast:

Larki - Saher Shah

Aunty - Seema Bowri

Bestie/Baaji - Anisa Butt

Mama - Madiha Ansari

Friend - Noor Hadid

Colleague - Gabriella Schmidt

Crew:

Writer - Saher Shah

Director - Melina Namdar

Assistant Director - Tash Samrai

Producer - Sarah Allen

Associate Producer - Lydia Renee Darling

Assistant Producer - Amin Ali

Stage Manager - Francesca Osimani

Sound Design - Mark Fenton

Set Design - Maarijah Sharjil

Dramaturg - Kash Arshad

Reviewed by DannyᐧShaw

Danny studied English at Bristol University before completing a screenwriting MA at Leeds Beckett. He now works in film and is an aspiring screenwriter / playwright.