Shaan Sahota’s The Estate, now running at the National’s Dorfman Theatre, is a remarkably assured piece of writing, particularly for a first-time playwright. Shifting almost seamlessly between political satire and family drama, it takes a fearless look at the scars left by class and cultural hierarchies. Sahota balances humour and seriousness with precision, never allowing one to overwhelm the other, and delivers a play that is a sharply crafted political polemic wrapped in fast-paced comedy.
At the work’s centre is Angad Singh (Adeel Akhtar), an MP in the midst of a party leadership contest whose political ambitions collide with a family crisis. The death of his father — a self-made Punjabi businessman — triggers a bitter inheritance dispute, exposing the sexism and primogeniture still embedded in aspects of Punjabi-British culture.
At the same time, the play digs into the psychological damage inflicted by both paternal expectation and the ritualised cruelty of elite boarding schools, where humiliation becomes a form of social currency. It also reveals how such power plays extend into the private sphere, with disinherited siblings weaponising secrets against a brother who has inherited everything from a domineering and cruel father. Sahota deftly shows how these formative experiences shape Angad’s political world, where power is built on favours, secrets, and calculated betrayals.
Daniel Raggett’s direction makes the shifts between comedy and drama feel organic. Scenes of sharp, fast-paced political dialogue segue into tense family confrontations without losing rhythm. Chloe Lamford’s set design — sliding walls and doors that take us from Westminster offices to Angad’s home — supports this fluidity. The subtle sound design by Mike Winship is a mix of background buzzing of voices in an office, or traffic noise, locates us while adding some creative mood sounds as well. Akhtar’s performance is finely calibrated, moving between charm, bluster, and a stripped-back vulnerability in the play’s final moments. Thusitha Jayasundera brings quiet steel to the role of Angad’s eldest doctor sister, Gyan, and Shelley Conn captures their youngest sister, Malicka’s contained fury, and Humphrey Ker gives a sly, note-perfect turn as the self-serving party whip.
For a first play, The Estate is strikingly smart, engaging, and substantial. Sahota refuses to let anyone theme dominate; instead, she shows how political cynicism, inherited privilege, cultural expectation, and personal trauma are not separate spheres but parts of the same architecture of power. The laughter it provokes is the kind that sharpens rather than softens its critique, and the moments of vulnerability feel earned rather than sentimental. The climax and resolution are well tuned, as we witness a broken politician, son, husband and brother first lose his dignity and then discover his raw authenticity.
It’s rare to see a debut that juggles so many elements with such assurance. The Estate is a promising start to Sahota’s playwriting career —the arrival of a voice willing to examine, with wit and precision, the uncomfortable spaces where the personal and the political collide.
The Estate
By: Shaan Sahota
Director: Daniel Raggett
Set Designer: Chloe Lamford
Sound Designer: Mike Winship
Cast: Adeel Akhar, Shelley Conn, Dinita Gohil, Thusitha Jayasundera, Humphrey Ker, Fode Simbo, Helena Wilson
Until 23 August 2025
Running Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes, including interval