Testing The Echo (Tricycle Theatre) April 2008

Topical and timely, Testing The Echo is the long awaited response from British theatre to help define Britishness. Is it true that ‘being able to see the other point of view is what being British is about?’ Better still, why do people decide to become British citizens?

Mahmood is a young Pakistani migrant who wants British citizenship so his father will be pleased with him. Tetyana wants to escape an abusive marriage and Chong wants to be able to travel, so he can see his family again. They all have their different reasons for wanting the red passport but are they willing to live by the values of the country they crave to be part of?

This soon becomes the focus of the play as Emma (Teresa Banham), an ESOL (English For Other Speakers of Other languages) teacher, is embroiled in a classroom confrontation with Nasim. Who feels she is being made to learn things which are in direct contradiction of her Islamic beliefs when the class is made to learn about what constitutes an English breakfast and the notion of learning all about pork doesn’t go down too well with her.

Going through an ESOL class is one thing but taking the citizenship test and crossing the final hurdle of swearing allegiance to the Queen brings up an entirely different set of questions. A number of issues jump at you; national identity, a sense of place and belonging, and without a shadow of doubt, the differences between British values and other cultural values.

The values of migrants from different parts of the world who have made Britain home but hold on to their traditional and cultural beliefs. We are confronted with the challenges of multiculturalism. How accepting are we of each other and where do we draw the line when it comes to the things we hold on to sacredly, especially our religious beliefs?

Written by David Edgar and directed by Matthew Dunster, Testing The Echo is intelligently written and thought-provoking. For its ability to capture the mood of differences which exists in a fragmented society hides itself under the disguise of multiculturalism, it is certainly a brilliant production.

It certainly speaks volumes about the state of our communities and society and is tied together by the thread of identity which transcends the boundaries of race alone.