My Brother’s Keeper by Mahad Ali - ★★☆☆☆

Earlier this week we were invited to Theatre503 to watch Mahad Ali’s ‘My Brothers Keeper’ (MBK), a drama that explores immigration and the difficulties of making a hostile environment your home, whilst also finding your identity and choosing your joy.

Aman and Hassan are two brothers who risked their lives to cross borders and are now seeking refugee, “like scattered seeds” in a coastal area in the UK after being dispersed by the Home Office with very little support. Hassan (Tito Williams) is the older brother, he’s hardworking, focused and is on a mission to make it, so he can provide for his family. Aman (Tapiwa Mugweni) is the younger brother, free-spirit, relaxed and afraid of nothing and no one. 

The play starts with the two brothers trying to find their bearings as they make their way to Margate with hopes of finding an accommodation in this new community. After a quick encounter with Amans mentor, the brothers end up at a family bed and breakfast owned by Bill in which he runs with his son Aidan. Cautious at first, Bill did not take to the brothers as his business was struggling and the brothers were not allowed to work. Aidan however, is kind and gentle, was willing to help and quickly took Aman under his wing. Bill however faced criticism by his best mate Linton for housing the boys. 

Though the play explored a range of themes including grief, homosexuality, immigration, death, family relationships and more; it was difficult to find the hook in this play. It seemed as though all aspects of the theme were gracefully scraped as opposed to deeply explored.

The gay relationship that starts to form between Aman and Aiden was slow to recognise and a little unclear at times, but felt most natural through the charisma of Aman’s character.  Throughout the play there were moments of brief banter between the brothers, Bill and his son and Bill and his friend Linton which engaged the audience. Peter Eastland as Linton, the right-wing independent candidate was incredibly strong, the character ws both written and performed well in reflecting the fear, hate and racism that is perpetuated by people like Linton in real life. 

There were so many aspects of the play that had the opportunity to excel, but what makes MBK sit on the cusp of good and great is the lack of structure, the length and the many gaps in the story. With so many themes trying to be explored, the play loses focus and doesn't end up touching on anything significant. Several scenes overlap taking away from what was happening a moment ago. The set though incredibly creative and well designed didn’t add or take away from the story making it redundant. The plot of the play developed at most towards the very end of the play giving a rushed feel to what could have been explored in depth for the past 2 hours. 

A good script with a lot of potential to develop if supported by effective direction and design.

My Brother’s Keeper is running at Theatre403 till 04 March.