British Muslim Stories Take Centre Stage In Family Show Commission

In a move to address the lack of British Muslim stories seen on UK stages, east London's Stratford Circus Arts Centre and Bradford's Kala Sangam Arts Centre are to offer seed funding to theatre companies. Artists and companies were invited to apply for funding to create new family shows that celebrate British Muslim experiences, culture and communities. As part of the initial phase, three theatre companies have been selected to receive £2000, free rehearsal space and the opportunity to pitch to the Theatre for Young Audiences Consortium in November. From these, one company will then be offered the opportunity to take their idea to full production and will premiere in London or Bradford in October 2020.

The three productions selected for the development phase are: Komola Collective, a London based, female-led collective, 80% of whose members are from a Muslim heritage. Teller of Tales is a new take on the classic 1001 Nights. The company aims to revisit history to seek new viewpoints on women's roles and their contribution to society.

Pet Bird is a meditation on grief devised by Jameela Khan, Fabiola Santana and Umar Butt. Jameela Khan is a former scientist turned multi-media artist and theatre director based in the North West. Umar Butt is currently the Artistic Associate of ARC Stockton and co-founder of Bijli, a company in residence at The National Theatre of Scotland (NTS). They will collaborate with dance artist Fabiola Santana to create the piece.

Asif Khan, whose debut play Combustion was nominated for OffWestEnd's Best New Play and Best Writer in the Stage Debut Awards will present Jabala and the Jin, a spooky story about an Eid party that takes a supernatural turn.

Amal - 'hope' in Arabic - is a programme of the Saïd Foundation which makes grants in the UK in support of arts projects and activities, including storytelling, visual arts, theatre, poetry, film, music and dance.

Speaking about the initiative, Tania Wilmer, Director of Stratford Circus Arts Centre said "Malorie Blackman recently talked about stories being mirrors and not just windows and doors, and how every child has the right to see themselves in what they're reading. This is absolutely true of theatre too, young people have a right to see their lives and experiences reflected on the stage.

As an arts centre situated in one of the most ethnically diverse boroughs in the country we're acutely aware of the stories that are not being told. We're delighted to be working with the Saïd Foundation and Kala Sangam Arts Centre to support three Muslim-led theatre companies to create shows that draw directly from their culture and community."

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