Testing the Echo - TNT

David Edgar's well-researched and entertaining new play makes a mockery of the idea of citizenship in Matthew Dunster's rapid production for Out of Joint. The cast of eight switches personalities and nationalities with the swift addition of an ethnic headdress or change of hairstyle as Teresa Banham's Emma (white, educated, middleclass and discreetly Jewish) tries to inculcate the idiosyncrasies of the English language and of Britishness in her diverse immigrant class. Illustrating the ludicrous elements of the test they'll be required to take with questions that even those born and bred in this country would find virtually impossible to answer, Edgar points up the difficulty of defining the essence of what has already become a multicultural nation.And, ironically, none of the would-be Brits want to gain citizenship for love of queen and country. An unhappily married Ukrainian is desperate to ensure she won't be deported if she leaves her strictly Muslim spouse, ex-junkie Mahmood wants to impress his father, and modestly dressed Egyptian Nasim takes serious offence when asked to discuss a full English breakfast – pork sausage and all. Tolerance, it seems, can sometimes be a one-sided commodity.
Tricycle. Kilburn High Road, NW6. (020-7328 1000). Until May 3. Tickets £20-£10.