On Wednesday 30 April, theatre show Duck comes to the Corn Exchange Newbury. Written by award-winning playwright and producer maatin, Duck is about adolescence, the pressures of sporting competition and finding your identity in an environment that doesn't cater for difference.
It's the summer of 2005 as England get ready to win the Ashes. 15-year-old British Indian student Ismail (Smiley to his friends) goes to the sort of school you hear about because of how many Prime Ministers went there and there is literally nothing he doesn't love about cricket. Ever since he can remember, he's been obsessed. A star player full of ambition and talent, Ismail sets his sights on immortality – breaking the school batting record and getting his name into Wisden. But at the start of the season, new coach Mr. Eagles takes a particular dislike to him, for reasons Ismail can't quite put his finger on.
Playwright maatin says ‘I'm thrilled that this exciting new tour will bring new audiences into the seldom-seen perspective of a British Indian, Muslim teenage boy.'
Adding ‘It is my biggest goal to purposefully invite communities that have been excluded – whether deliberately or otherwise – into the theatre, both on and off the stage.'
maatin is a writer, dramaturg, and producer from London, now based in Los Angeles. He focuses on Muslim storytelling, working across theatre, radio, television, and film. maatin trained at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama (M.F.A. in Writing for Stage and Broadcast Media, 2018–2020).
Duck is his debut play and premiered at the Arcola Theatre in London in 2023 and ran at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 as a recipient of the Pleasance's Charlie Hartill Fund. His play Friday at the Masjid was a winner of the Royal Shakespeare Company's 37 Plays and longlisted for both The Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting and Soho Theatre's Verity Bargate Award 2022.
Theatre credits include Duck (Edinburgh Festival Fringe, 2024; Arcola Theatre, 2023; Jermyn Street Theatre, 2022), Meatballs (Hampstead Theatre). Radio credits include: Yusuf and the Whale (BBC). Film credits include Sharia's Law (short, Apatan Productions).
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