Theatre review: The Arrival

In a year when many theatre professionals have been branching out into new fields, prolific director Bijan Sheibani presents his first show as playwright at the Bush. Taking particular inspiration from his productions of The Brothers Size and Barber Shop Chronicles, The Arrival looks at the relationship between two men who only find out in their late twenties that they’re brothers. Tom’s (Scott Karim) biological father had Middle Eastern heritage, so he always knew his white parents had adopted him; what was a surprise, when he eventually sought out his birth parents, was that they were still married, and had had two more children, who they kept. His sister now lives in Germany but his brother Samad (Irfan Shamji) has, by coincidence, moved to the same part of London as him, and when the two meet up they instantly get on. The play opens as they start to spend time together and get to know each other.

To start with both are excited about the new family they’ve discovered, and to find out the similarities and differences between them – in between scenes Sheibani gives the actors wordless movement sequences, and early on these are largely used for the two to mirror each other’s actions and mannerisms.

Tom is, understandably, the more fascinated to learn about the family – he’s disappointed to find out Sam doesn’t speak Farsi as he was hoping to learn more about that side of his heritage. As time goes on it becomes obvious that Tom’s enthusiasm is much greater than Sam’s, and as he demands more and more time with Sam and his biological parents it soon tips over into pushiness. Sam also has trouble dealing with no longer being the eldest sibling, as the fitter Tom takes it upon himself first to get him exercising, then to take on a more general mentor role. His birth family’s initial positive response to his arrival makes Tom miss the signs that he’s intruding, and it all comes to a head at Sam’s wedding – where Tom seems to be the only one not to realise his brother didn’t want to invite him.

Sheibani has a very clear vision for how his story needs to be told which, along with the fact that it’s very concisely written, is why The Arrival doesn’t really fall into the usual traps of a writer directing their own work. Samal Blak’s set is a very plain, large revolve, whose movement echoes the way the brothers’ relationship is moving at a faster rate than they can handle. I did wish sometimes we got a bit more background information, particularly on why, if he was as happy with his adoptive family as he claims, Tom is increasingly desperate to be accepted by his biological one. At the same time I appreciate that this is very much the point, narrowing the focus right down to just the relationship between the two men, and how you can’t always see the outside factors which make people behave the way they do. It’s a strong and coherently put-together evening, and as both the scenes themselves and Aline David’s movement sections between them get increasingly aggressive and jagged I found it quite painfully sad.

The Arrival by Bijan Sheibani is booking until the 18th of January at the Bush Theatre’s Holloway.

Running time: 1 hour 20 minutes straight through.

Photo credit: Marc Brenner.