Two Billion Beats (NHB Modern Plays)

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In such areas, Bhattacharyya’s dialogue is beautifully nuanced between the competing forces of moral rage and personal yearnings, public affairs and private ones. In fact, Asha’s own passionate desire to do the right thing is so strong that it takes over the plotting of the final third of the play, which becomes increasingly unconvincing despite the charm and humour of the writing. A sharper dose of realism would have worked better, and made the anti-racist strand much stronger. Still, there is much to enjoy in the playwright’s depiction of the two girls, their sibling banter, and their delight in standing up to bullies, especially the heart-warming dance sequence to Cardi B’s “Money” – a moment of pure joy. Asha leads the performance, and it is her youthful earnestness, intelligence and curiosity that captures the heart of this play. One of the highlights takes place in the first ten minutes, as Asha describes to us how she structured her argument in an essay about Gandhi and Ambedkar, as though it is a boxing match. There are several moments in the play when we are moved from the day-to-day life of Asha and Bettina to Asha’s internal monologue. This helps the pace of the play and although it does feel like the piece loses some momentum towards the final section, the last moments are powerful, and the erupting applause was well deserved. Two Billion Beats left me with much to process and reflect on, but one message came through clear: we must crucially examine our understanding of mainstream heroes. Such probing questions may just be a step towards radical social justice. Unfortunately this has massively pissed off her mum, which is why we findAsha killing time after school until her mum’s nightshift begins. Meanwhile, it becomes apparent Bettina has problems of her own: some kids have been bullying her on the bus home, and she’s clinging to Asha in the hope her big sister might lamp her oppressors.

Asha is waiting to go home until their mum has left for work so she doesn’t have to talk about her history essay. She got 85%, but her mum only cares about the fact that she criticised Gandhi’s views on the Dalit, the lowest Indian caste of "untouchables". Asha admires B R Ambedkar, the lawyer (and Dalit himself) who played a key role in drafting the Indian constitution. Her mum thinks her teacher won’t be so complimentary when Asha goes for her heroes, the Pankhursts. Bettina just wants her sister to help her deal with Adil and the other bullies on the bus. And also a hamster, whom she plans on naming after Cardi B. Asha is full of righteous indignation at the way that the Dalit were (and are) treated, at the slander Sylvia Pankhurst’s pacifism provoked from her mother and sister. She’s compassionate but proud too, flush with teenage conviction that she is right. There’s a palpable change in Ingar when it becomes clear that a throwaway comment from Bettina could have a lasting impact on Muslim Adil’s life, as if we’re watching Asha grow up in front of our eyes. Strictly speaking, Two Billion Beats is not a two-hander. The hamster appears in the fur towards the end of the play, but is sadly uncredited. Whoever you are, you did a bang-up job. The two actors have a nice, sparky chemistry together: Chadha is sweet and Ingar is sassy but there’s a real easy warmth between them and a sense of their care for each other.She’s a don! I’ll be completely frank – I wasn’t aware of her work before this project. People of colour in this industry have to hustle and make our voices heard, so when I met her for the first time and she was like a Muslim Hijabi woman, I was like: I’m working with the best here, with the people that I need and I want to work with. The return of this exhilarating production following its acclaimed world premiere at the OT in 2022. Sonali Bhattacharyya's play Two Billion Beats is an insightful, heartfelt coming-of-age story and a blazing account of inner-city, British-Asian teenage life. It was originally presented in the Inside/Outside season, livestreamed from the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, before receiving a production there in this full-length version in 2022, directed by Nimmo Ismail. There are articles in the show’s programme about B. R. Ambedkar (1891-1956), an Indian social reformer who spoke out against discriminatory policies affecting what were then known as ‘the Untouchables’ within Indian society, and about Sylvia Pankhurst (1882-1960), a British campaigner for the suffragette movement. The storyline makes clear why some biographical details are set out, and there are some interesting outcomes on Asha’s part as she tries to apply what she’s learned to her own circumstances.

Seventeen-year-old Asha is an empathetic rebel, inspired by historical revolutionaries and iconoclasts Sylvia Pankhurst and B R Ambedkar. She’s unafraid of pointing out the hypocrisy around her but less sure how to actually dismantle it. Safiyya Ingar and Anoushka Chadha beautifully portray the sisters with such depth and humour, pushing each other’s buttons with rage and burning sisterly love…Energetic and gripping.” North West End

In the loving but spikey relationship between this pair of sisters no reputations are entirely safe, not even that of the much-sanctified Mahatma Gandhi, for his dismissive views on the Dalit, the lowest of India’s caste of Harijans, or “ Untouchables.” Nimmo Ismail's pacey direction means there is no lull in the energy of the production. Asha and Bettina constantly move; walking, climbing and once breaking into a joyful dance. There has been real consideration of the space of the Orange Tree, with Debbie Duru's simple design capturing the concrete surroundings of the girls' school. The play features frequent cutaways and introspective soliloquies delivered by its lead, Asha (Shala Nyx). These are often followed by the loudspeakers serenading us with the dulcet tones of B R Ambedkar and Sylvia Pankhurst. In contrast Bettina (Tanvi Virmani), delivers a refreshing comedic reprieve with a delicate touch. Both actors bring strong, lively performances and successfully convey the source material engagingly. Ultimately the play is rather let down by a degree of early-career shakiness. For starters, it’s weird to explicitly set it in Leicester and not bother with Leicester accents. A laboured attempt to indict Asha’s teacher of Karen-ist hypocrisy feels like it’s been approached completely wrongly (it hinges on the idea Emmeline Pankhurst is as big a sacred cow as Gandhi). And the bullying saga spirals out of control in a way that serves Asha‘s newfound philosophical beliefs well, but is, to be blunt, totally ridiculous. First seen in a 20-minute version in April 2021, as part of the Orange Tree's foray into theatrical streaming Outside, Two Billion Beats is Sonali Bhattacharyya's engaging and vibrant play that explores the relationship between two South Asian teenage sisters as they confront injustice, racism and the realities of growing up.