Ostan – Park Theatre, London

A world premiere of Ostan by Arzhang Pezhman, a play in which big themes and ideas play out against a backdrop of £5 car washes.

Ostan

One of the shameful things about modern society, in my opinion, is the way that the worst aspects of it can hide in plain sight.  We know certain places are more likely to be sites of exploitation or trafficking, for instance.  Knowing that, are we complicit if we frequent those businesses?  Or even just in that knowledge?

It’s a good question, as we take a seat on either side of a fairly realistic hand car wash.  North London’s Park Theatre is transformed by Liz Cook’s set design into the setting for Arzhang Pezhman latest play, Ostan. It’s a play about identity, migration, difficult decisions, exploitation, hope, and what happens when hope runs out.  Its central character, Rebin (Ojan Genc) has his routines in order to keep up hope.  He works.  Plays video games with his friend Noah (El Anthony).  Goes to class.  Waits on hold to check on the status of his application for Indefinite Leave to Remain.  There’s yet another new guy at the car wash, Görkem (Serkan Avlik).  Rebin calls him “Fresh Fish”, hazes him with all the privilege of an old hand.  He’s earned it.  He’s been there ten years, seen countless Görkems get their status and move on.

Pezhman’s play creates quite a complex story out of this humble setting.  And all within the space of 90 minutes.  As the days roll by we see what life is like for the Rebins and Görkems of the world. How taking the risk of leaving home doesn’t mean leaving behind all your problems, while it can also mean picking up some new ones.  Questions of Kurdish identity have certainly followed them (Iraqi-Kurdish, Iranian-Kurdish or Turkish-Kurdish?).  Each of the Kurdish characters has a slightly different relationship to their homeland and identity. And there are bigger dilemmas too, as manager Destan (Mohsen Gaffari), owner Shapur (Dana Haqjoo) and Noah get involved in an illegal migration scheme.  Only, real life isn’t quite like playing a video game.

A Creative but Busy Production

I appreciated the risk-taking both in the play and the production, even if I did find both a little busy.  There are clear links between different threads of the story, which often play out in parallel.  Not ineffective, but I did struggle to follow the thread of overlapping conversations and would have understood the parallels without them.  Likewise the use of video game projections (and sometimes war zone footage?) overhead: an innovative way to integrate gaming into proceedings, but I missed some dialogue trying to read things backwards, not knowing it would be reversed shortly so I could read it too.

While the story I’ve described might sound small in nature, taking place in one location with a handful of characters, it’s packed full of different ideas, any of which could be developed in more detail. It doesn’t help that the production is quite a sensory onslaught, and Gaby Dellal’s direction brings the action right into the audience. Overall I thought Ostan could have done with a good dose of Ockham’s razor, or dramaturgy, to give more space to one or two key themes.

It’s nonetheless quite compelling, aided by charismatic and relatable performances. I didn’t dislike Ostan, I just thought it could do with a bit of a deep clean and detailing to bring it back to its best self.

Salterton Arts Review’s rating: 2.5/5

Ostan on until 12 October 2024. More info and tickets here.