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No Guts, No Heart, No Glory
Birmingham Rep Studio
****
NO Guts, No Heart, No Glory is an
extremely feisty tale and gives a deeply moving message, especially to
women, that nobody has a right to stop a person from achieving their
dreams.
As clichéd as this may sound, the art of being
who you want to be and not a product of somebody else requires great
determination and extreme courage. The fear to face up to those around
you may be tough, but the battle is even stronger when constant
disapproval come from those closest to you.
Ambreen Shadiq is a UK boxing champion from
Bradford. She is also Muslim. Her story is an inspiration to all.
Although achieving great and auspicious awards in a sport that she
loves, Shadiq’s extended family were far from approving.
Because of her religion and gender, Shadiq has
encountered prejudice from peers, people of the Muslim community and
even family members. Common Wealth Theatre have taken their unique
creativity and presented us with an encouraging message to be brave and
stand up for what is right, no matter who is against your wishes.
As a way of the voice being heard, Common Wealth
have channelled Shadiq’s boxing career and created a strong verbatim
piece, based on the experiences of the cast as young, Muslim women. In a
world of pre-judgements and differences of opinion, Common Wealth’s aim
is to inspire those to strive and break through adversity, encouraging
us, the audience, to take up something that we have never done before.
A reflection of this is through their cast of
five courageous women, some of whom have never been on stage before.
After going through auditions at Bradford school, the all-female cast
went on to win a Scotsman Award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014.
No Guts is a promenade piece. As the audience
enter the auditorium, we find ourselves in the middle of an all-female
boxing gym. Immediately the atmosphere is focused, high energised and
full of discipline. In a strong pre-set, we see the boxers training,
practicing pads, skipping and drills as they welcome us into their world
in the gym.
The story unfolds with a series of monologues
throughout the play, led by the thoughts and feelings of each young
woman who play boxers. Themes of teenage love, conflicts of parents and
school worries are rife throughout. All women present their own life
story and are united by one universal sport. Their bond through boxing
shows that no prejudice will stop them in what they set out to do.
Although it was hard at times to connect the
delivery from the cast, which included Seherish Mahmood, Freyaa Ali,
Mariam Rashid, Nayab Din and Saira Tabasum, their performances were not
the essence of the evening’s entertainment. This is a company who choose
to let their strong and outright message talk, and the audience are just
as an important part of the performance as the cast.
The ensemble, with slick and accurate direction
from Evie Manning were magnificent in choral speaking pieces. There were
moments when they came together and presented us with wonderful
sequences displaying their raw excitement for their voice to finally be
heard, dancing in the middle of the boxing ring that took centre stage
and working out on bags and pads. The performers weaved in and out of
us, not noticing we were there when they were training, but addressing
us all the time when they had important things to say. The dark room
bonded us as a group and we were made to feel included in this gym.
Nothing was impossible to us and we were encouraged to go where we
pleased.
The performance is an inspiration to everyone.
Through the canvas of Shadiq and the rest of the cast’s stories, we are
encouraged to defeat even the smallest element that will stand in the
way of achieving our goals, no matter what they are. Their daring
nature, infectious enthusiasm and determination to inspire is certainly
heard. It will be broadcast live on BBC4 in November and I encourage
anyone to see it. To 12-09-15
Elizabeth Halpin
08-09-15
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