Review: Foxes (Hope Theatre)

Review by Sam Waite

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With so many factors creating division among communities, societies, even the population en masse, there’s always a spark of joy that comes with a common source of joy. Some find that a political ideal unites them, others a special interest or fondly-absorbed piece of work. For others, as in Sami Sumaria’s new play Foxes, in its premiere at Islington’s Hope Theatre, what brings two people together can be as simple as sitting on a park bench watching over animals the rest of the world has deemed vermin.

In a Central London park, 30-ish theatre marketer Ali returns to their usual bench to find it occupied by Shanta, a widowed mother whose daughter has gone no-contact with her. Ali is there for a moment of recreational smoking, Shanta simply to observe the titular animals – she’s named them all, and the pair strike up a friendship over these shared moments of quiet reflection. While each of them learns lessons from the other, the most painful parts of their pasts find their way to the surface, as what begins as a casual friendship over fox-watching becomes a genuine and heartwarming pairing.

Staged managed by Eliott Shepherd but with no credited director or designers, Foxes pulls off some truly effective moments in which lighting becomes more muted and sedate, when a sense of calm falls over the imagined park. In the intimate Hope Theatre, where the actors are never out of arms’ reach of their audience, these touches somehow expand our image of the space without shattering any of this intimacy, and the simple green bench and rubbish bin prove to be more than enough to ground the work within the characters’ shared space.

Triple-cast as a rough sleeper fed by Shanta, an officer who nearly catches Ali out for their “cigarette”, and finally Shanta’s daughter Pooja, Neetika Knight has no small task in filling out the surrounding world. Impressively, all three characters are distinct from one another, though unsurprisingly her police officer is less distinctly-drawn – it’s a one-scene appearance to land a hilarious moment in which Shantra gets high attempting to prove it’s “just tobacco” in which her young friend is partaking. Bringing the necessary gruffness to the rough sleeper, and a good deal of warmth to her appearance as Pooja, Knight is a strong actor and a welcome addition, though I did find myself unsure of the purpose of the former character.

Despite this confusion on my end, the conversation’s opened up by the character’s presence helped to introduce some of the kinder, most admirable traits of Shanta. Sumaria covers what could seem like a lot of themes for a 60-minute piece – gender identity, arranged marriage, disownment, disconnection from religious and cultural identity, to name but some – but grounds each exploration in the realities of Ali and Shanta’s growing connection. Opening up is reciprocal, confessions rooted in genuine compassion, and Sumaria’s dialogue feels natural, organic not only to these two people but also to real human beings. There is nothing overly stagey or actorly about these conversations, they are simply two ordinary people whose conversations an audience happens to have been privy to, a testament to Sumaria’s strength of voice and capabilities as a writer.

Here, of course, Sumaria is not only the playwright but also plays the role of Ali. Mixing just the right amounts of autobiography and fictitious invention, their performance is grounded and delicate, a portrait of a person rapidly exiting their “youth” as they’ve known it and attempting the keep the various plates of their existence spinning. There’s a real sense of familiarity to Ali, as if they are someone you know in passing or attended uni alongside, and Sami Sumaria’s skills as an actor really help to cement this immediately actor-to-audience connection. Pink Milk, the production company co-founded by Sumaria and partner Andrew Houghton, has built its reputation on queer-focused one-person shows, and Foxes proves that Sumaria is just as capable of creating dynamics between multiple characters, both as a writer and as a performer.

I say this because of their strong, truly touching chemistry with Shanta, played with both boldness and unwavering grace by Shilpa Varma. At one point mid-performance, I found myself so moved by the tone of Varma’s voice, by the way she put across her character’s history with only words, that I didn’t realise for several moments that a tear was making its way down her cheek. So authentic, so richly-felt is her performance that it’s impossible to take in everything at once, yet it’s equally as difficult to detach yourself from her work for long enough to truly take in every technicality that she brings to the material. In this stirring, evocative new play, Varma continually shines.

Triumphant as the pair are as individuals, Foxes still finds its strongest moments in the back-and-forths that welcome us into their growing friendship, and which deepen both the characters themselves and their connection. Whether it’s Ali learning about the fraught relationship between Shanta and Pooja, Shanta helping Ali to vet potential matches on Grindr, or simply two people sharing their time together, Ali and Shanta are a joy to spend an evening with, and a hopeful sign of what can come from people expanding their ideas and welcoming unlikely connections into their lives.

Well-crafted, remarkably well-performed and above all filled to the brim with heart, Sami Sumaria’s Foxes is the kind of show which could easily step beyond the intimacy of its premiere venue, but which also feels cosily welcome in the space. Allowing its characters and its audience to learn, and welcoming an idea of openness to new ideas and perspectives, the show feels almost essential for the world we currently live in – with so much still dividing us, there’s something endlessly moving about seeing two people come together not only in spite of what makes them different, but because of it.

Foxes plays at the Hope Theatre until January 27th

For tickets and information visit https://www.thehopetheatre.com/foxes

Photos by Abby Timms