Break The Floorboards (review)

It’s an old trick casting a prodigiously talented dancer and then giving him a storyline in which he goes from clod-hoppingly bad to discovering a remarkable ability.
Break The Floorboards. Photo by Manuel Harlan.Break The Floorboards. Photo by Manuel Harlan.
Break The Floorboards. Photo by Manuel Harlan.

But the story has been given a new and exciting twist when, instead of talking about Billy Elliot or even Gene Kelly, we’re served up an electric fusion of raw street dance and fantasy Bollywood.

Break The Floorboards, which premiered at Watford Palace Theatre last week ahead of a national tour, has all the basic steps to be a big hit if only the dialogue and acting matched the incredible dance talent on show.

However, it was refreshing to see a production that reached out to new audiences of all ages and ethnicities, as was displayed on the opening night, when the first night crowd saw youngsters keen on urban street dance mixing with more mature, traditional theatre-goers.

The story, such as it was, revolved around a clumsy young Asian boy, Zain, who longed to be able to dance. The problem was that his strictly Muslim mother frowned on the idea while his militant older brother, Adil, was trying to mobilise the (chicken) wing of the local Muslim youth into fighting racism in the community.

Zain sneaks away to take street dance lessons from a young Irish girl, Sophie, who teaches at a community centre and, guess what, he’s not so left-footed after all.

There are some sensational dance segments and moments of laugh-out-loud comedy but Daniel Uppal, playing the Bolly Elliot of the Asian community, struggles with a clichéd script and his lack of drama training.

Uppal was the UK under 18s freestyle dance champion and went on to appear in Flashdance and Thriller Live but he’s no actor. You spend the whole show knowing that something really special is eventually going to come from him in the finale and yet, when we get there, the big number is over way too soon.

The dancer is acted off the stage by the charismatic all-rounder Nathan Clarke as Adil who gives a solid performance as an angry young man with aspirations of his own. Clarke makes a huge impact and he’s also a fluid and highly watchable dancer.

Sheena Patel, as the mother, was a bit of a racial stereotype but was tremendously entertaining providing most of the comedy as cultures and generations clash.

The fusion of street dance and a Bollywood style story is an original idea but the production struggles with weak acting and story. Director Pravesh Kumar needs to play to the cast’s strengths and include more dance.

Break The Floorboards is now touring. It comes to Oxford Playhouse on May 30 for three nights. For tickets call the box office 01865 305305 or go online www.oxfordplayhouse.com@LBOanne