When it comes to advocacy about the representation and telling of multicultural stories in Australia, there’s one concept that I have become especially drawn towards – seeing those stories become part of the ‘mainstream’ as opposed to being seen as separate, niche or ‘other’. The latest dramedy playing at Sydney’s King’s Cross Theatre, For the Love of Paper (FTLOP), has a mixture of insight, humour and emotion (albeit with some stumbles) but ultimately succeeds in taking another vital and entertaining step towards mainstreaming multicultural voices.
FTLOP follows the story of Amalia, a Pakistani immigrant and aspiring actress, whose visa is about to expire. Her roommate, Kaveh is a queer Afghani man with a deep love for his family back home in Kabul, but an ongoing fear of revealing his sexual orientation to them. With Kaveh’s family bombarding him with questions about marriage and lining up suitable matches for him (hi mum, don’t get any ideas), he develops a wild idea of filling a partner visa with Amalia thereby solving her visa predicament and delaying any confronting conversations about his sexuality with his own family. What ensues is an entertaining saga involving disastrous dates, investigations from the home office and navigating a growing tension between family, culture and friendship.
Antony Makhlouf and Almitra Mavalvala in For The Love Of Paper. Image Source: LSH Media
With several elements of this production showcasing the best of what immersive, independent and meaningful theatre can achieve, it must be said that Kersherka Sivakumaran’s directorial debut is an impressive one. For starters (and at the risk of sounding like an HSC English essay), FTLOP’s intimate set design filled with subtle meaning is itself an achievement. The decision to dwarf the set under the backdrop of a huge partner visa Form 888 is a masterstroke. It’s a move which forces the audience to view every aspect of the play – be it happiness, sadness, humour or heartbreak – under the constant shadow of anxiety and uncertainty that Amalia’s visa situation brings. And that message is an important one. It reflects the often unseen Australian story of thousands of migrants who contend with the enormous stress of visa applications and constantly changing migration laws.
Continuing from that strong start, FTLOP displays what is perhaps the most conscientious portrayal of the barriers and familial struggles experienced by multicultural LGBTIQ+ communities that I’ve seen on stage. Indeed, even as a heterosexual male, I think it’s fairly uncontroversial to observe that the discussion of LGBTIQ+ issues is often muted or tiptoed around in many diaspora communities. It makes the WhatsApp/Facetime calls we hear between Kaveh and his mother that much more profound – at times humorous as well as heartbreaking.
However, the unsung heroes of this production are the music and interplay between the actors on stage and voice actors of Amalia and Kaveh’s family overseas. The dialogue between Kaveh and his grandmother (all through the phone and letters) is particularly special. Kaveh’s grandmother provides some of the most moving moments of the play with a voice that reminded me of Bollywood’s Zohra Sehgal – you know, that voice filled with love and wisdom where you feel she could just as well be your own grandmother? Chiding but soothing? Traditional yet modern? Complex yet simple? That one. This, coupled with intense Afghani inspired compositions, transports the audience between nations and will make almost anyone from an ethnic background feel seen.
Joseph Raboy and Almitra Mavalvala in For The Love Of Paper. Image Source: LSH Media
It's therefore fair to say that the story of Amalia and Kaveh is compelling and covers a myriad of themes during the play’s 90-minute runtime. However, covering so much ground may also serve as FTLOP’s shortcoming. At times FTLOP feels as though it may be trying to do too much – a comedy, a drama, whilst simultaneously serving as a commentary on migration, multiculturalism and intersectional LGBTIQ+ challenges. Consequently, FTLOP’s plot can sometimes feel stilted.
At times it seems that FTLOP is in a rush to advance the plot and consequently, some key complications in the story feel a little unnatural. Audience members may be left pondering how and why tensions between certain characters arise seemingly out of the blue.
Further, where subtleties in the set design are FTLOP’s strength, the script occasionally forgets this, and the dialogue can feel forced. “Talent isn’t enough when the places of our birth dictate our opportunity”, though true, has the effect of sounding more like a Ted Talk than the words of a stage character.
On the other hand, I wonder whether FTLOP could have been clearer in its exploration of the double standards and unfair compromises we (both government bureaucracy and we as citizens) expect of new migrants; something that Almitra Mavalvala (Writer and Cast) articulated beautifully during the post-performance cast panel discussion. However, where many people of migrant background may already have an assumed understanding of that experience, I wonder whether such themes would have been absorbed at all by those who are far removed from the migrant experience.
Almitra Mavalvala in For The Love Of Paper. Image Source: LSH Media
But I think it’s here I need to check myself and realise that I’m probably guilty of some hypocrisy. If audience members like me actually want to see diverse stories become part of the mainstream of Australia’s artistic spaces, expecting every story told by diverse creatives to explicitly unpack and explain multicultural issues would be counterintuitive. Wouldn’t placing the burden of having to spoon-feed audiences on multicultural themes further entrench diverse stories as a ‘niche other’ rather than seeing those stories become part of Australia’s mainstream? Isn’t it already a remarkable achievement that FTLOP is able to sit as a standalone dramedy whilst seamlessly underlining that multicultural experiences are Australian experiences?
You know what? I think so.
For The Love of Paper is playing at KXT Theatre until 20 April. You can get tickets here.
Khushaal Vyas is a lawyer, social justice advocate, freelance journalist… and self-appointed SRK dialogue expert. You can follow him on social media at the links below.