Review:  Sisters 360, Polka Theatre

(WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A SPOILER)

When do you ever see girls in hijabs riding skateboards on stage? Indeed, when do you see Muslim girls performing lead roles? Sisters 360 at Polka Theatre is a new piece of writing from Asif Khan and a great example of giving visibility to an under-represented, marginalised group. It’s an upbeat, energetic production for ages 8-12 that has a lot to offer, but is still finding its balance somewhat.

Ten-year-old stepsisters Fatima and Salima are determined to enter a skateboarding competition and have been practising like crazy. Their dream is jeopardised, however, as life gets in the way and they are split up when their parents separate.

Sara Abanur as Fatima and Farah Ashraf as Salima give dynamic performances. Their characters are full of life and offer a refreshingly unfamiliar sight on stage. These are modern, playful girls who rap and study and enjoy each other’s company. Their stylised skateboarding moves work well posed on the rocker boards front of stage but perhaps less well when the actors run up ramps: the space is too limited to make it seem daring. Given that there’s puppetry later on, it might be more effective to depict the skateboarders in action at a smaller scale with puppets, so they could demonstrate some impressive tricks in miniature across the set and illustrate their skills.

There’s also a lot of information in the dialogue, delivered rapid fire, so it’s quite hard to keep up, particularly for younger audience members. The storylines tend to compete with each other so none is told to its best advantage. The tale of Muslim girls owning skateboarding and entering a competition is a brilliant one on its own: bring in ideas of toxic male resistance and there’s a battle there to be fought and won, with a message about empowerment and changing the narrative. The additional tale of parents splitting up adds in an extra layer that’s really not needed and is a bit flimsy. The parents aren’t substantial characters, the split doesn’t really add any great tension except between the girls, when it could instead be them challenging the world together. Additionally some interesting themes are raised but then under-explored. There’s mention of one family being Pakistani and the other Somali, and the odd use of languages from those countries, but we don’t learn what the differences are and why they are important.

This is a story of a dream come true but at one point that is taken rather too literally… Spoiler alert coming up: When Fatima needs to get back to Bradford for the competition, the solution to their problem turns out to be a technicolour bat. My jaw hit the floor when it came on stage. It isn’t a bat imagined in a dream, but a very literal bat who is encouraged to take his friends to sabotage the gallery opening, and performed with a rainbow-furred puppet. This is a totally surreal occurrence – maybe manifestation? – and I still can’t quite grasp why the creature is said to be real, so undermining an otherwise realistic, urban adventure. Perhaps it’s intended to appeal to the younger members of the audience, but it seems really out of place and disrupts the age range for which the show is appropriate, bringing it right down.

There’s definitely a future for this play. It has a great energy to it, even if its intention is not quite clear yet. Perhaps that will change as it evolves. Urban drama disrupting gender stereotypes through sport, or domestic drama with surreal, superficial solutions? I’d work towards the first one.

You can read more about this show in our recent interview with Asif Khan.

Written by: Asif Khan
Directed by: Ameera Conrad
Set and Costume Design by: Erin C Guan
Sound Design & Composed by: Holly Khan
Lighting Design by: Lucía Sánchez Roldán
Movement Director: Rachel-Leah Hosker
Puppet Maker & Design by: Mikayla Teodoro

Sisters 360 is aimed at ages 8-12 years and runs at Polka Theatre until Saturday 27 April