In the biracial Singh family at the centre of Dan Sareen's Passing, the head of the household might nominally be Hindu father Yash, but bossy live-at-home daughter, the 20-something Rachel, is the domineering child whose disposition can influence the mood of the room, and so it is with the play.
Rachel, having decided that the family will all celebrate Diwali together, is the self-appointed party-planner and, with the zeal of the converted, she dictates the rites to be followed, the clothes to be worn and the food to be eaten, all as set out in her timetable of events.
Parents, brother and boyfriend fall in with her plans—as if they had a choice—with varying degrees of compliance, but Rachel has set the stakes unachievably high, wanting everything to be perfect, not least for the guest of honour, the frail elderly grandfather, whose anticipated demise has triggered in her a crisis of identity.
It is extremely funny, but there is no doubting the build-up of tension as those pesky, insuppressible family dynamics inevitably rise to the surface, particularly when uncomfortable memories and contentious subjects trespass on the celebration of good over evil.
Educated and middle-class, Sareen's characters are articulate if not always profound whilst navigating discussions about heritage, the preservation of cultural legacies and the counterbalance of one parent's traditions against the other's.
Upon these big questions, Sareen grafts micro-level concerns that are touching details, albeit less thought-provoking, though he still misses the opportunity to raise some points that are obviously wanting.
The interaction between the Singh family members is wonderfully written, delightfully familiar and avoids falling into any ruts. The dialogue is in good hands with benign father Yash, played genially by Bhasker Patel, who dawdles slightly behind the discussion and resists arguing, leaving it to Kishore Walker's cheeky older brother, David, to be provocative. In their own ways, both men avoid confrontation but also need the outstandingly truthful Catherine Cusack's motherly Ruth to keep them in check.
Amy-Leigh Hickman tethers Rachel to the right side of spoilt brat and plays her struggle with self-acceptance movingly, enriching this telling comedy with a gentle stroke of tragedy. We catch flickers of what boyfriend Matt (a detailed and considered performance from Jack Flammiger) might see in her, but ultimately, everything orbits around her and it is an achievement of Hickman's that Rachel is likeable.
The weight of Rachel's dilemma is never diminished by the comedy as director Imy Wyatt Corner does a fine job maxing out the laughs whilst keeping the moments of tension real without taking sides. It is the right approach for this finely observed family comedy gilded with difficult questions to which there are no right answers.