Poet, activist and educator presents her first ever drama – and talks to us about its larger themes and we also review below…
By Suman Bhuchar
AUDIENCES will know Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan as a poet and spoken word artist who is admired across the UK.
Her poem – ‘This is Not a Humanising Poem’ went viral and placed her as a runner up in The Last Word Festival – a National Poetry Slam at Roundhouse in 2017. This brought her work into wider prominence. (See link below).
In her debut poetry collection, ‘Postcolonial Banter’ (published by Verve Poetry Press, 2019) she explains that she wrote the poem in the aftermath of the London Bridge attacks on June 3 2017, when her mum texted her to ask if she had seen the news and “to be safe going home”.
She realised something had happened involving a Muslim person “perpetrating violence” and it got her thinking of how Muslim people always have to prove themselves in order to distance themselves from attacks and therefore inadvertently buy into the narrative of the “Good” versus “Bad” Muslim, which she rejected.
Her work focuses on challenging and critiquing received notions of history, racism and Islamophobia and it is prolific. She has written blogs as the brownhijabi.com (see link below), given talks, produced podcasts and published books.
Manzoor-Khan has been courted for a long time to write for theatre but she has resisted those calls and explains her relationship in a witty poem, ‘Theatres‘ in her poetry collection.
As she explained to www.asianculturevulture.com: “Originally, early on in my spoken word career, opportunities would come up to write a monologue or a short play. It’s seen in the industry if you are a spoken word artist that you have capacity to go this way. It was never something I was super passionate about, I was not sold on theatre to be honest because it’s not something I have grown up with.”
She watched theatre work, especially stories rooted in activism such as ‘The Trojan Horse‘, play by Lung Theatre and concluded “that there is something about the liveness of storytelling, something about just how immersive it is that is really compelling.
“I think bringing people’s attention to socio political issues in a way that is not didactic that’s just through the heart of human beings and through our investment in compelling narratives – is a natural link there that makes most sense to me as a writer.”
The play, ‘Peanut Butter and Blueberries’ was commissioned by The Kiln as a seed commission which kept growing into a full length play. Originally Indhu Rubasingham was due to direct it, but as she got a new job, the play is being directed by Sameena Hussain, a theatre maker from Leeds.
Ostensibly, it’s a love story between two young Muslim people Hafsah and Bilal who meet at university and bond over their love of peanut butter and blueberry sarnies and the rest goes from there.
Working with a simple base line, allowed me to explore what it means to be a young Muslim in Britain today, Manzoor-Khan explained.
I wanted both characters to really enjoy being a Muslim and for Islam not to be the conflict in the play. I am quite bored of seeing that kind of story, she stated.
“On the other hand I wanted to do a love story where both those people in love were Muslim and that therefore would inform the love story, for example there is not going to be physical intimacy.”
“They are going to make choices around how they practice and how they relate to one another. They have this bubble of their relationship, where everything is lovely and great, but I wanted to show the state violence that surrounds us does have an impact in terms of communally we are traumatised – we hear things, we see things and the surveillance of Muslim communities, it does seep into our lives.”
Manzoor-Khan is a passionate and measured advocate for changing the perceived notions of status quo and has worked with The Kiln Theatre on ensuring that there were no barriers for a Muslim audience to access the show.
She explains that whilst theatre and other cultural institutions have embraced the drive for equality, diversity and inclusivity – “there has been a kind of superficiality to it for example, let’s tell a story about Muslim characters but there is no corresponding way in which Muslim people can access that story”.
She explained that one of the important things was that the play didn’t last so long that people would miss the Sunset Prayer time and luckily there is a mosque across the road from The Kiln theatre and the venue has also made a praying space available. There are also alcohol free performances across the run (check the theatre’s website listing).
Manzoor-Khan was born in Bradford and grew up in Leeds. She studied History at Cambridge and her Masters was in Post-Colonial Studies at SOAS.
Like many Pakistani immigrants, her grandparents came to Bradford in the 1960s and her dissertation researching the experiences of Pakistani migrant women between 1960-1980 was nominated to the Royal Historical Society Dissertation Competition as the Best Dissertation in the Cambridge History Department of 2016.
Sameena Hussain in rehearsals
“I am quite passionate about that particular diaspora and that is something that comes across in this play in terms what impact did the Northern mill towns and factories have on someone two generations later, who is just pursuing their own studies and how those specific histories shape your life in a certain way.”
Acv asked Manzoor-Khan her thoughts on the South Asian voice in the arts and cultural landscape in the UK?
“What we are trying to get towards is that we are not one essentialised whole, we are many different stories, many different voices,” she outlined.
“One thing I notice is THE Asian voice that gets platformed more is one that often feels to me, like it is appealing to the white gaze – it is about being a version of an Asian that is palatable.
“I am thinking more about screenplays than theatre, but those kind of tropes, like my mum and dad have a heavy accent who hold me back from living my dreams – ‘Oh I just need to escape my culture and if I can marry a white boy, then I will finally be able to run away and be free’!”
Religion too, often has to be the brunt of jokes and plays into the idea, that is part of the backwardness of our culture and so it’s always the kind of escaping from that religious background, she pointed out.
“I think often with Muslim South Asian stories they are male led and that means the women in those stories are subordinate in the sense that – you’re my mother or you’re my sister and that’s the only relationship — so, I think seeing women as protagonists, who don’t fit those tropes, is really rare. We should be allowed to tell the complexity of our stories.”
Review – A debut play that brims with humour, intelligence and subtlety….
THIS is a charming two hander about two students who meet at SOAS, University of London, fall in love, and split up and meet again.
Hafsah (Humera Syed) a hijab wearing, bespectacled student from Bradford and Bilal (Usaamah Ibraheem Hussain), a cheeky chappie from Birmingham, bond and argue over politics, representation, family responsibilities and language. He woos her with his favourite sandwich filling, peanut butter and blueberries.
They’re both practising Muslims and the first time they get together, is after he’s given a paper about Kashmir. Both explain their innermost thoughts in a direct address to the audience and there is a lot of that: Why did he allow himself to be called Billy? Why does she ride a Raleigh bike?
Slowly over time, they find ways of meeting –in the library, at an exhibition where they continue to argue over patriarchy, share reading lists and discuss family. There are some heavy sharing of subjects but not pursued (such as her father being a mujahid).
There is a lot of dry humour in the banter between the couple and Syed and Hussain have a great on stage chemistry.
Deftly and subtly directed by Sameena Hussain and designed by Khadija Raza the stage is in the round, and this device conveys a sense of movement and time. They run around it in opposite directions and sometimes in sync.
They never really touch in keeping with their faith beliefs but there is a beautiful tender moment when they come close enough and you will want them to hold hands!
Despite not wanting to be didactic, the play is giving us a message that external forces of the state impact the lives of young Muslims and love is never easy.
ACV rating: **** (out of five)
Production stills: ©Oluwatosin Daniju/TheKiln
Listing
Peanut and Blueberries by Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, The Kiln, 269 Kilburn High Road, London UK NW6 7JR till August 31
https://kilntheatre.com/whats-on/peanut-butter-blueberries/
Links
Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan official website – https://www.suhaiymah.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9Sz2BQdMF8&t=2s
https://thebrownhijabi.com
