Last Updated on October 3, 2025
The Clues Are in the Cast List: Shaan Sahota’s The Estate Debuts with Precision and Punch
4.5 out of 5.0 starsThe clues are all there in the cast list. Each character is presented with their alma mater and professional title, a precise and telling shorthand. From the elegant and composed Sangeeta (Dinita Gohil), a product of St Paul’s Girls’ and Jesus College, Oxford, to the razor-sharp Isaac (Fode Simbo), ostensibly from the “Diversity Access Scheme” but later revealed to have been a day boy at Westminster, the details are meticulously drawn.
Angad (Adeel Akhtar), a Punjabi Sikh, is the son of an immigrant who arrived in the UK with £3 and built a life in Southall, starting out as a baggage handler and cleaner. Angad was sent to Harrow and then to New College, Oxford. His sisters, Gyan (Thusitha Jayasundera) and Malika (Shelley Conn), took a different path—Langley Grammar followed by Sheffield Medical School and UCL, respectively. Before the play begins, we already know these people.
The narrative is sparked by two catalytic events: the sudden death of Angad’s father and the resignation of the Leader of the Opposition after a scandal involving an eighteen-year-old. The story then unfolds with biting wit and swift pacing, running these two arcs in parallel. Just as Angad received a private education and elite credentials while his sisters went through the state system, he now becomes the sole heir to their father’s property empire. His sisters are incensed—and with good reason, though there are mitigating circumstances.
As the opposition party scrambles for a new leader, Ralph, the Chief Whip (Humphrey Ker), another Harrow and Oxford man, initially seeks to secure support for a more senior contender. But Angad, aided by his communications team, Isaac and the sleek, ambitious Petra (Helena Wilson), has other plans. They orchestrate a smear campaign that shifts the momentum. By the time of the father’s funeral, it’s clear: the party has swung behind Angad. Several prominent politicians are in attendance.
Angad takes a brief wobble, literally and figuratively, with a flashback to Harrow’s infamous soggy biscuit game. But he regains ground with a powerful speech, full of insider knowledge that ultimately undermines the Whip. Adeel Akhtar’s performance is magnetic, matched by Ker’s convincing myopic purposefulness in his role.
Yet the matter of the estate casts a long shadow. Angad’s sisters become more vocal and confrontational, arriving at the party conference with plans to air their grievances publicly. Malika, wealthy and acidic, is even more combative than Gyan, the reasoned but quietly resentful GP.
An old Harrovian boyfriend once told me: “A woman walks into a room with three men—an Etonian, a Wykehamist and a Harrovian. The Etonian says, ‘Get the woman a chair.’ The Wykehamist fetches it. The Harrovian sits on it.”
By the end of The Estate, Angad is firmly in that metaphoric chair.
Characterisation—both on the page and on stage—is superb. Dialogue is concise, fast-paced, and rich in insight. Chloe Lamford’s set design moves us fluidly from a Sikh temple to the Opposition Party Conference, to Angad and Sangeeta’s home and office. The lighting by Jessica Hung Han Yun is deft and unobtrusive, and the music punctuates each act with impact.
Directed by Daniel Raggett, The Estate, Shaan Sahota’s debut, is at once entertaining, sharp, and affecting. As someone of a certain age from a middle-class, white British background, with a state grammar school for me, but fee-paying prep and public school for my brothers, the story rang uncomfortably true. My siblings hated the culture they were immersed in, and, like Malika and Gyan, I often felt invisible.
Will The Estate resonate as deeply with a broader audience? That remains to be seen. But it’s a play well worth discovering. Catch the world premiere at The Dorfman, National Theatre, and decide for yourself.
The Estate
Dorfman
National Theatre
South Bank
Upper Ground,
London SE1 9PX
Until 23 August 2025
Check our previews for more about upcoming productions on the South Bank and Bankside
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