The cast of The Infidel – The Musical at Theatre Royal, Stratford East, London. Picture: Roy Tan
The Infidel – The Musical continues at Theatre Royal Stratford East, London until 15 November 15.
In a political environment where the representations of Muslims in the news are dominated by political and terrorist atrocities in the Middle East, it’s easy to forget that, just as with any other religion, there is as full a spectrum of behaviours and beliefs as in, or outside, any other faith.
At one end of the spectrum in The Infidel – The Musical is Mahmoud, a loveable, lazy oaf who is immature, irresponsible – a self-described “Muslim Homer Simpson” – who discovers that the stepfather of his son’s fiancée is a radical Islamist hate preacher. At the same time, while clearing out the house of his recently deceased mother, he comes across documentation of his adoption as a baby, and finds that he was, in fact, born Jewish. Compelled to explore the Jewish faith so the local rabbi will allow him to see his dying birth father, Mahmoud tries, and fails, to balance his newly discovered Jewish side with a desire to appear as the perfect Muslim to the prospective in-laws.
Culture clash comedies are nothing new, although it’s unusual for the clash to be epitomised by one character’s personal dilemma in this way. It’s also unusual for the sensitive subjects of race, ethnicity and religion to be treated with such raucously inappropriate humour. David Baddiel’s book is saturated with hilarity, taking pretty much every cultural stereotype going and wringing one-liner after one-liner throughout. The ability to take those archetypes and show that they only ever scratch the surface of a person’s true identity would be a tricky task for any playwright, and yet Baddiel makes it look easy.
In contrast, his lyrics and Erran Baron Cohen’s music are much less polished. The show’s songs all feel fairly similar to one another, with each number relying far too much upon lyrical repetition. There are, though, some great flourishes – such as a Bar Mitzvah turning into an exploration of the attendants’ appraisal of celebrities’ Jewishness (an ability they dub “Jewdar”) while Melanie Marshall, in her dual roles as a burkha-wearing neighbour and a West Indian nurse, steals every musical number she is a part of.
Without a strong presence in the central role of Mahmoud, The Infidel – The Musicalcould well fall flat on its face. Kev Orkian ensures that this is never a possibility, providing an engaging, spitted and warm-hearted approach that wins the audience over completely. As his loving but suspicious wife, Mina Anwar leads an impressive supporting cast, with Andrew Paul and Gary Wood in particular standing out.
As the story draws to a climax and Mahmoud’s heretofore hidden dual identity is revealed, the pace (and, to a lesser extent, the comedy) certainly falls off. But the happy ending – including a repetition of the hilarious riff “fatty-fatty-fatwa” which stays in the head long after the curtain comes down – should leave the audience, of any faith or none, feeling more appreciative of other cultures, as well as having had a great time.
Scott Matthewman
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