Tackling some serious issues

According to an audience poll conducted before this performance, the trouble with Asian men ranges from bad hair to a tendency to stick their head in the sand.

This is just the start of it: by the end of Tamasha's thoughtful verbatim theatre piece, Asian men also have serious mother issues, lack a decent six pack, are useless around the house and in general are suffering a bit of an identity crisis.

This is hardly uncharted territory but the beauty of this piece is that it cuts through the proliferation of cultural punditry and social theory on the Anglo-Asian experience post 9/11 to talk directly to the people who know: gabby teenagers, religious youngsters, wives, mothers and Asian men themselves.

This is theatre as vox pop that stakes its biggest claim on the legitimacy of its source material. The interview transcripts are fed through ear pieces to the four actors, who recite it verbatim, mimicking every pause and intonation.

What emerges most clearly is the extent to which the difficulties experienced by Asians are domestic rather than social, thanks to a culture that places more significance on a man's relationship with his mother than that with his wife. Forget racism: the most potent conflict is gender relations.

Yet like most verbatim theatre pieces, this piece struggles to transcend its source material. It might articulate the heterogeneity of being Asian and male but it can't put it into the dramatic context that would allow the debate to be taken a step further.

Until Sep 23, Soho Theatre, 21 Dean Street W1, Mon to Sat 7.30pm, £10 to £20 (limited availability). Tel: 0870 429 6883. www.sohotheatre.com Tube: Tottenham Court Road/Piccadilly Circus

The Trouble With Asian Men
Soho Theatre
Dean Street, W1D 3NE