Theatre - Michael Portillo is seduced by an all-singing, all-dancing tale of forbidden Asian love

A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life on London's fair North Circular Road where we lay our scene. In Strictly Dandia, Raza and Preethi have the misfortune to be a Muslim and a Hindu in love. Like Romeo and Juliet, they come together at a dance and fight the system for the right to be together. In particular, they want to compete as a couple in the disco dandia, a free interpretation of the traditional dance in which the performers bang sticks together. Between their routines with the sticks, anything goes - from salsa to break-dancing. Raza is a muscular street dancer who has infiltrated the Hindu Navrarti celebrations under a false identity. The Gujaratis think that's just the sort of thing "Slims" do, preying on Hindus because they have no opportunity to see their own girls sporting navel jewels and halter-necks.

Even within the Gujarati community, the caste system creates difficulties for young love. Dinesh Shah is a computer geek who might be able to impress Preethi's father (of the higher Lohanna caste) if he dances well enough to be crowned Diwali King, or at least that's what Dinesh's father hopes. As the scandal over Preethi and Raza grows, her damaged reputation makes it even more likely that she will have to marry within the Gujarati community but "beneath" her. She won't get a second chance, having made one "mistake" with Raza.

These are sombre themes, but Sudha Bhuchar and Kristine Landon-Smith's witty script sends them up beautifully. Roopa, a girl hoping to find a husband during the festival season, comments: "It's true Punjabis are better looking, but at least you know when a Gujarati boy is wearing a suit, he's paid for it." Later, when she discovers the true identity of the boy she thought to be a Hindu Punjabi (or HP), she yells out: "He's a Mosi. And you let me snog him!" Mohan, a newsagent who wants his son to give up being a choreographer in order to join the family business, whines: "You want to pursue some pipe dream while your father gets swallowed up by Tesco Metro and Sri Lankans who work round the clock." The audience roared appreciation at the dialogue, but apparently the actors hadn't anticipated this, because they tended to lose lines by talking through the laughter.

The production's other great strength is the dance, choreographed by Liam Steel. The Tamasha Theatre Company has chosen a cast who are better dancers than actors. Fiona Wade, who with other companies has played both Juliet in Shakespeare's play and Maria in West Side Story, is charming as Preethi. She has the physique of a ballerina and floats through the air in the strong arms of Paul Tilley (Raza). The pair are comfortable in a rich repertoire of dance styles and at their best when working closely together, their bodies folding into one another. Her beautiful costumes, which she changes every scene, display the range of Anglo-Indian fashions and colours. In one affectionate reference to Grease, Preethi, wearing jeans and a crimson jacket, dances with Raza apparently at the top of a grandstand.

Don Klass, playing Raza's Muslim accomplice Jaz, is a superb gymnast; and Sonit Shringi, in the part of Shrenek, a Patel caste interloper from south London, shows how graceful a big man can be.

The director, Kristine Landon-Smith, sometimes created difficulties by forcing the actors to speak through very loud music. Even though they wear microphones, it was a battle they were bound to lose. Musicals are not generally expected to have coherent plots, and Strictly Dandia makes the most of this leniency. As the end approaches, the storyline (such as it ever was) collapses. It's unfortunate, too, that the first half is more gripping than the second.

Despite its shortcomings, the play expresses something that is disconcerting. Third-generation Hindus and Muslims growing up in Britain are into dancing, tight jeans, bare midriffs, snogging - like other kids. But it seems they may be stricter than their parents when it comes to respecting the divide between the religions, and even between the castes. For every Preethi, who wants love to conquer prejudice, there's a Shrenek who says: "Any girl who goes with a Muslim needs her head examined . . . You're after our girls. Keep your sisters locked up at home." Preethi may win round her mother, but she faces being ostracised by her peers. As they say: "Out of caste, outcast."

The Tamasha Theatre Company has provided insights into the Asian community in Britain with such award-winning shows as East is East and Fourteen Songs, Two Weddings and a Funeral. This new production is worth catching, especially in the intimate setting of Hammersmith's Lyric Theatre. It's a highly entertaining evening, with more than a dash of despair.

Strictly Dandia is at the Lyric Theatre Hammersmith, London W6 (08700 500511) until 14 February

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