Review: DIAL 1 FOR UK, Riverside Studios

Anyone wanting to get to the bottom of newspaper stories about illegal migrants in Britain could learn a great deal from Dial 1 for UK at Riverside Studios.

Written and performed by assured actor/dancer Mohit Mahur, his debut one-man play provides plenty of laughs, as well as poignancy when a migrant (loosely based on Mahur's own experience) discovers the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

Mahur plays smiley, exuberant Uday Kumar (UK), a young man working for a crypto helpline in New Delhi. In the early hours, he fantasises about life in Britain – eating fish and chips, Sunday roasts and having tea with royalty.

One day, he gets his wish by acquiring a visa, via a bogus degree at the "esteemed" University of Sunderland ("it's like Hogwarts moved to the Isle of Dogs") to study advanced accounting and financial management.

Kumar's side hustle is a Dream UK You Tube channel, where he gives advice to fellow Indians who also want to get into Britain. He shows them the "Bridge of the Millennials", and "The Shaftesbury Avenue – a Bollywood dream come true with singing and dancing", but you pay 7,000 rupees to watch the back of a pillar. He even includes a West End show called "Mr Leslie Miserables".

But all doesn't go to plan, as Mahur deftly demonstrates while playing all of the other roles in the play alongside Kumar. He props up photos of various characters on chairs and clips them with lengths of red ribbon from something resembling a police evidence board to connect them to his story.

Kumar's high hopes are deflated when he ends up in humble Hounslow and works in the care sector. He looks after a lonely old man, once a major in the Royal Fusiliers, forming a friendship of sorts with him. Kumar doesn't understand why the major's son has abandoned his father to Hounslow Social Services.

There are many sharp observations here of class, people trafficking and racism – Kumar's puzzled people keep shouting, "fuck off, Paki," when Kumar thinks it's obvious that he's Indian. There's also an overwhelming sense of loneliness, with the British not making eye contact as they constantly look at their phones.

"No one looked at us with kindness," Kumar complains when he's fielding calls from irate crypto customers, a theme that carries over to his supposed fresh start in the UK.

Kumar expects his life to be like Mary Poppins, Love Actually and Harry Potter, but he's reduced to a hostel overlooking the bins, sleeping in a disabled toilet at the Marriott that's "big enough for a family of four back home" – and worse.

Mahur's an engaging performer and terrific at involving the audience, some of whom are invited to shoot videos of Kumar when he's compiling material for Dream UK, which adds to the immediacy of the piece.

Directed by Phil Wilmott and with terrific sound design by Ansuman Biswas that includes Bollywood tunes, Dial 1 for UK makes the audience question the reality of migration in a humorous, heart-breaking and ultimately hopeful evening.

Read our guest blog from writer Mohit Mathur here.

Dial 1 For UK runs at Riverside Studios until October 30 and then tours.