Rich with the language and culture of India, Santi & Naz by Guleraana Mir and afshan d’souza-lodhi takes us back to a country on the brink of change. An alluring two hander, the play runs at Pleasance Courtyard this Edinburgh Fringe.
Santi and Naz are the ‘bestest of best friends’, the former is a writer and storyteller while Naz is the more immature of the two, one is Sikh, the other Muslim. The pair find themselves going from frolicking in the monsoon rain puddles to preparing for life in post-partition India.
With descriptive storytelling and a seductive soundtrack, Santi & Naz is as much a coming out story as it is a coming of age tale. It is literature that first begins to bridge the intellectual gap between the two, and while they spend much time discussing boys and who they will marry, it’s the love they have for each other that begins to shine through.
Rose-Marie Christian as Santi and Karendip Phull as Naz work well together, bouncing off each other in a playful performance that celebrates the differences between both characters. Their relationship unfolds in parallel with the forthcoming election on India’s future relationship with Britain; the intertwining stories shedding a light on power and control.
As Santi and Naz continue to play childlike games with each other, India moves closer to partition and both their futures seem uncertain. The girls impersonate Gandhi and other politicians, questioning how much they understand the real citizens of rural India.
Perhaps overly cautious in its approach, Santi & Naz takes just a little too long to get to the crux of all the elements of this complex story, and although it gives a fascinating insight to untold stories, it struggles to pull together all of its narrative threads.
