Review: The P Word by Waleed Akhtar

Well, this is an unexpected and very pleasant surprise. A piece of new writing (premiered at the Bush Theatre in September 2022) which manages to capture the personal and the political while also feeling utterly contemporary. Waleed Akhtar's moving and funny play manages to ask a lot of questions. Overloaded with heart, feeling and visceral energy, it also manages to answer many of the questions it asks.

Billy (a name that he's anglicised from Bilal) is a gay British Pakistani. Ostracised from his family who would rather he kept his sexuality private, he has moved on from the taunts in the school playground. Reinventing himself as a fashionista gym bunny, he will only sleep with white men he meets on hookup apps. Zafar is a character presented in stark contrast to Billy, with a profoundly different life. Having fled Pakistan where his (male) partner was murdered, he is stuck in West London seeking asylum. When Billy and Zafar meet by chance at Pride an unexpected friendship develops.