Play

“I didn’t even notice the T-shirt, to be honest. Not at first. It was only after everything had happened...the incident that I...” says a middle-aged British-born Indian woman, Priti, speaking to an unseen officer at a police station.

Priti is the protagonist of British comedian, writer and playwright Meera Syal’s new play, which she has written and performed, directed by Jeremy Herrin, as part of The Guardian’s Brexit Shorts. This is a series of “original dramas exploring how Brexit has divided the nation”.

Seated in a West Midlands incident room, Priti talks about a violent attack involving her Polish neighbour “Paul” Pavel. As she talks, she reveals that she voted “leave”, but wonders how that is relevant. “We used to make things in this area, didn’t we?” she says, referring to her parents’ decision to move to the United Kingdom for jobs. “Now what do we have? Pound shops and chicken huts...Even got a chicken palace. How does a chicken end up in a palace? Probably said he was a refugee.”

Syal’s play deals with the impact of Brexit on immigrants in the UK. Priti speaks of her father, “Bob” (“who’s going to hire a bloke called Balwinder?”) and addresses the unfair treatment that immigrants like her face: “So when you throw the doors open and anyone can just rock up with their handout – paid for by our taxes – how is that fair? When our kids can’t get jobs or get into schools or get on hospital waiting lists when everything is full to bursting? And when we were here first?”

The play moves to confront racism and violence against immigrants resulting from Brexit. Over the short five-minute play, the monologue builds up to an impassioned climax: the significance of the message on the T-shirt.

She ends soberly, “(I) just want to tell them both...I’m sorry.”