A meaty feast of new theatre from playwright Waleed Akhtar, The Real Ones is a fast-moving and impassioned exploration of platonic love, tackling themes of identity and sexuality that Akhtar previously nailed in his Olivier-award-winning play The P Word.
Bring a friend - and perhaps a tissue or two - for this intimate exploration of platonic love
Spanning over a decade in the lives of best friends and wannabe playwrights Zaid and Neelam, The Real Ones tracks the pair’s unique experiences of love and loss from their student days to their mid-thirties. A story of British-Pakistani identity, homosexual awakening and motherhood, The Real Ones is far-reaching in its goal, grounded by the curative theme of friendship.
With a runtime of two hours and no intermission, The Real Ones is not worried about throwing audiences in the deep end. Luckily, the swift current of the story carries us through easily, buoyed throughout by star performances from Nathaniel Curtis (It’s A Sin) as Zaid and Mariam Haque (Black Mirror) as Neelam, supported by Anthony Howell and Nnabiko Ejimofor as the duo’s love interests.
With minimal staging and costume changes, the focus remains on the stars throughout as they effortlessly elevate Akhtar’s whip-sharp dialogue with maturity, understanding and good comic timing.
Bring a friend, and possibly a tissue or two, for this intimate exploration of two lives intertwined.
