A team of bhangra dancers bound onto the stage in traditional sequined dress and fanned turbans. “Wassup?” says one. “Ready to bhangra?” This is Punjabi dance spliced with American high school musical. Bhangra is a competitive sport here, and there are face-offs in the bleachers, while dancers’ khundas (bamboo sticks) resemble cheerleading batons.
Directed by Stafford Arima and developed since its 2022 premiere in San Diego, the story pivots around a Michigan high-school bhangra competition. Teammates Preeti (Zaynah Ahmed) and Mary (Jena Pandya) fall out over what the dance means to them. Preeti is a purist who wants to keep the routine strictly bhangra; Mary is mixed heritage and seeks to, well, mix things up.
Rival dance troupes are formed out of their fracture and we follow Mary into a journey for self-definition as the musical explores the complexity of hyphenated identities and what it means to be a South Indian American.
The music by Sam Willmott and dance, choreographed by Rujuta Vaidya, is always vital, the dholaks (Indian drums) as infectious as a thumping bass. But the central story seems contrived to fit around its themes with messages about colonisation, appropriation and authenticity latched onto dialogue and songs. Projections by David Bengali fill the bare stage but they are over-excitable (with fire-like flickers and psychedelic whirls) and disconnected to the drama at times.
The characters feel too flimsy and generic. There is a stunning kathak dance sequence between Mary and the ghost of her dead mother but this relationship is under-explored after being introduced in Rehana Lew Mirza and Mike Lew’s book. A romance between Mary and DJ Billy (Iván Fernández González) is initially bland and Preeti’s story – the pressure to remain true to her roots – is explored late in the day, though it is affecting.
The second half blooms in drama, and both Ahmed and Pandya breathe truth of feeling into their characters’ inner lives. The book’s humour warms up and there is a standout performance from Siobhan Athwal as Mary’s kooky room-mate, Sunita, even if her radicalism is over-egged.
Some songs bear angsty emo notes, such as Dot Dot Dot, which captures gawky teen love as Billy and Mary text each other, while others are power ballads like the closing Bhangra Nation. The cast have strong voices, and the most beautiful number, Ve Leja Mainu Pind Wal Tu (The Preeti Ballet), is sung in Punjabi as the set cracks open to show Preeti’s family pind (village). It represents her purist version of Indian identity, drenched in nostalgia, and is exquisitely performed and moving in its sadness. A thunderously upbeat finale has so much energy that the show wins with its charm and journey towards joy.
At Birmingham Rep until 16 March
