Dial 1 for UK is a one-man show following the journey of Uday Kumar (UK for short), who leaves his job at a call centre in Delhi to come to England. All the while he is filming vlogs for other ‘dreamers’ who want to follow him. However, when Uday arrives things are not as simple as they seem. The play is an exploration of what happens when immigrants slip through the cracks and are forced to get by any way they can.
Performed by Mohit Mathur at the Burton Taylor Studio, the action takes place in a stripped-back set consisting of just a battered table and a series of small pictures. Each time the setting changes or UK talks to another character, a new picture is propped up on the table featuring a different place or face. This is intended to make the show easier to follow, but it is at times off-putting given that many of the pictures appear AI-generated – often images of the same person look completely different.
The one-man show is a notoriously hard format to pull off, and Mathur attempts to make it work by conveying the plot through a series of conversations with unseen companions. This makes for interesting watching at times; one example that worked well was a conversation with a shopkeeper, who UK assumes is also Indian from his appearance and, therefore, thinks will help him now that he’s homeless. The shopkeeper, however, is born and bred in Manchester, and dismisses UK’s pleas. As UK faces the audience, we see his hurt and confusion at the shopkeeper’s unwillingness to help him when he is at his most desperate, reflecting a wider rejection on the part of society.
The sound and lighting did a better job than the pictures in immersing the audience in the plot. Whilst waiting for the play to begin, we were treated to some infuriatingly repetitive hold music and, later on, a trip to central London was made to feel realistic through the noise of bustling crowds and roaring traffic.
Mathur’s character is intended to be likeable, and he drew some laughs from the audience with his over-the-top vlogging style. Yet, overall the comedic aspects of the play fell flat with many of the jokes feeling obvious and laboured. Furthermore, the comedy did not always mesh well with the serious themes of the play – whilst we were meant to sympathise with UK and find him amusing, it was revealed he had scammed an old lady out of her life savings for his plane ticket, and forcibly moved in to the house of an elderly man with dementia. This tonal inconsistency made it difficult to fully appreciate both the serious and comedic aspects of the play.
Dial 1 for UK tackles the ostracisation and neglect of immigrants, which is an extremely timely issue. Overall, however, the plot is confusing and a little slow, making it hard for the audience to fully appreciate its important message.
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