Maggots | Bush Theatre

“This isn’t a story about us,” the three actors performing Farah Najib’s prose play Maggots tell the audience in the opening scene. “It probably didn’t happen to you either…It could though. Maybe. With the way things are.”

They launch into the story of the residents of Laurel House, “a small residential block on a quiet street off a busy road in an unremarkable corner of London”, who begin to notice an unpleasant smell in the summer heat and to realise that the resident of flat number 61 hasn’t been seen in some time.

As they discuss this in the block’s Whatsapp group with varying degrees of concern, as they put in calls to the housing agency, as they go about their own lives, sometimes intersecting but often not, the smell grows and the eponymous maggots begin to infiltrate their lives.

Performers Marcia Lecky, Sam Baker Jones and Safiyya Ingar roam about the space under Jess Barton’s understated but effective direction, narrating the story but never fully stepping into any of the roles. This distance underscores the loneliness at the heart of Farah Najib’s bleakly beautiful play, the kind of loneliness that can see a woman’s death go unnoticed for days, weeks, months.

The kind of loneliness too, that sees people live almost on top of one another but know next to nothing about one another’s lives. The audience learns about various of the residents of Laurel House: cleaner Linda whose only regular human contact is with her daughter thousands of miles away in Australia, young single mum Carly who is beginning to wonder if her parents were right when they told her having a baby would ruin her life, GCSE student Jaydn who is hopelessly in love with his neighbour Aleena, and Aleena’s dad Adeel who is taking comfort in food after the death of his wife Layla. 

Najib shows us a glimpse of what could happen if those lives came closer together, but reminds us too how unlikely that is. She also reminds us of the unlikelihood of those in power (that intentionally ineffectual housing agency in particular) sitting up and taking notice even when the worst happens. 

Caitlin Mawhinney’s set is sparse, allowing Najib’s words to fill the studio space, although the greenery hanging from the ceiling which we can imagine creating the sweet scent of death is an effective touch. Peter Small’s lighting and Duramaney Karama’s sound design are also understated but effective, underscoring the tension in the play’s more dramatic moments.

A taut and effective play which will linger with viewers long after they leave the space, Maggots provides both vital social commentary and a searing critique of what happens when systems fail.

Maggots runs at Bush Theatre until 28th February. For more information and tickets, follow the link here.

★★★★★ (5*)

Gifted tickets in return for an honest review | Photography by Ross Kernahan