Review: Laila, West Yorkshire Playhouse

I would apologise for allowing racial politics to enter a review, but this musical exists within a political landscape which needs to be recognised. Rifco is an important theatre company that brings stories that are relevant to a contemporary British Asian audience to the stage.
Mona Goodwin and Reece Bahia in LailaMona Goodwin and Reece Bahia in Laila
Mona Goodwin and Reece Bahia in Laila

The British theatre scene is perhaps not as pale and stale as it was when Nicholas Hytner labelled it as such in 2007, theatre criticism on the other hand – well, I still see very few critics who look like me when I go to a theatre on press night.

At the Playhouse this week Rifco is telling the ancient story of Laila and her Majnu (madman). Eurocentricity still has this as the East’s version of Romeo and Juliet – despite this pre-dating Shakespeare’s tale by 700 years. It is a tale of star-crossed lovers with perhaps even more passion than Juliet and her Romeo – Laila and Qays literally feel each other’s pain and have done since they were bound together by fate as children.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A new British musical is a hard thing to achieve, a new British Asian musical is hen’s teeth rare. That writer-director Pravesh Kumar and composer Sumeet Chopra have combined to create a musical with great songs based in Arabic tradition is a triumph to be celebrated. It was clearly enjoyed by the diverse audience, who were clearly familiar with the tunes which are heard at most family celebrations. Mona Goodwin and Reece Bahia as the titular lovers make a great pairing and Goodwin in particular has the rare gift of making the audience feel comfortable in her presence. It’s a shame that this production is built for a proscenium arch, which means it is a little swallowed up in the vast Quarry stage, but Laila: The Musical has a wider resonance than being just a very enjoyable new musical.

To May 8.