The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2025 - Issue 37

bitetheatre Lisa Ogun’ attended Bush Theatre to watch a world premiere production of the ‘hilarious and heartfelt’ Speed play, which left her reflective while keeping her entertained. pression of why she should even be there. Harleen is defensive and secretive about any information about herself, answering only abruptly. Samir is the annoyingly talkative, not-too-clever character who lacks prolonged focus. Each personality infuses each scene with humour. Abz introduces the session and plays the group a corny-looking video of himself, promoting DVLA’s new pilot scheme: ‘Rehabilitating and Unlearning National Driving Initiative: R.U.N.D.I’. Samir can- not stop laughing; there’s a cultural and language joke with the word Rundi. I later find out it means ‘whore’ in Urdu. (Tutt! Honestly, Samir, grow up)! Adz, introduced as the speed awareness facilita- tor and anger management specialist in the video, takes the group through a short quiz. The char- acters do poorly, which prompts Abz to highlight why they are there to rehabilitate their aggressive driving. “Five people die every day because of road traffic deaths. Children, adults, your pet dog. The road does not discriminate.” Despite the humour, I quickly realised that this play will reveal some profound reflections of modern society. I sit straight and buckle up (pun intended) for the revelation of where this story is going. How dramatic can a road safety driving course be? The set ground rules are pivotal to how the session turns out as the clock ticks. Over the following 80 min- utes, I’m taken on a journey through the characters’ lives that sheds light on why they are all so angry. Rehabilitation starts with looking at ourselves with honesty and self-reflection. Faiza thinks she’s misunderstood, and people are angered by her, not the other way around. Samir confesses to driving under the influence of Shilajit, a sticky, mineral-rich substance traditionally used in Ayurvedic medicine but may have some poten- tial side effects. Harleen reveals she gave someone a gentle reminder in a back-and-forth incident in a car park, Abz explains the Johari window, designed to help humans better understand themselves, forms step one to removing the triggers that cause anger. “Being angry puts you in a state of adren- aline, and your cortisol rises. Your emotions are clouded, and you’re putting ordinary British people in danger.” However, the first rule breaker is Abz. When his phone rings, he calls for a five-minute break. At this point, we realise how forceful he is when he doesn’t let Faiza out to access her mobile signal to check on the status of her perilous business. Given they’re in the basement of a Holiday Inn with no Wi-Fi and on a break, it’s pretty harsh and has the audi- ence wondering about the sudden switch of calm L-R Arian Nik (Samir), Shazia Nicholls (Faiza), Sabrina Sandhu (Harleen)