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A riotous and authentic comedy exploring BrItish-Somali Muslim culture and female friendship.Summary
Rating
Excellent
Dugsi Dayz is a coming of age teen comedy inspired by the 1985 movie The Breakfast Club. Written by Sabrina Ali (who also plays Munira) and directed by Poppy Clifford, the show centres around four year nine British-Somali Muslim girls, two of whom are good friends, whilst the others are social outcasts. When the four girls are stuck in a Saturday detention together, a power outage at the Mosque plunges them into darkness and they retell Somali folktales to break the ice. They begin to cautiously bond through their matching cultural upbringings but end up exploring a much darker and more important topic that is scarcely spoken about.
Hani (Hadsan Mohamud) has returned to school following a sudden and mysterious two year absence, and rumours are flying. The tales about teenage pregnancy and drug dealing leave her completely isolated and she keeps her head down, trying to ignore the not remotely subtle whispers and stares. Throughout the play we see the walls that are built up between Hani and the other girls begin to crumble through banter and playful bullying until she discloses the truth behind her two-year disappearance. ‘Dhaqan Celis’ literally translates as ‘Culture Back’ and refers to a disciplinary practise whereby westernised Muslim children are involuntarily returned to their family’s country of origin and forcibly detained in a sort of re-education camp under the guise of ‘rehabilitation’. I was compelled to research this further post show and discovered that there seems to be a collective negative opinion towards the practice and a huge amount of discussion around the trauma it causes. Stories written by those with lived experience highlight a large number of cases whereby incarcerated children are subject to severe abuse and inhumane living conditions. It’s a dark theme, but carefully managed.
Ali’s writing is skilful, as she uses comedy and light-hearted teen banter to pave the way for some very serious conversations. The political situation in Somalia involves thousands of years of corruption, governmental dysregulation, poverty and war, but Ali sensitively selects the areas from this cultural background in which her play can give herself and others a voice, whilst also telling a coherent and entertaining story that keeps the audience engaged.
My favourite thing about this show, aside from it being fantastically funny, was the yearning for knowledge I was left with. It made me desperate to gain more insight into the issues addressed in the play, as well as those I further discovered through the learning process. It is a perfect example of how the arts can and should be used to create social and political change.
Written by: Sabrina Ali
Directed by: Poppy Clifford
Produced by: Side eYe
Dugsi Dayz plays at Royal Court until 18 May. Further information and bookings can be found here.
