Review: Planet Omar, Unicorn Theatre

This bland and unimaginative stage adaptation of the popular books by Zanib Mian, Planet Omar – a collaboration between Unicorn Theatre, Leeds Playhouse and Birmingham Repertory Theatre – struggles to find any real theatrical invention, relying instead on easy jokes, broad stereotypes and a frustratingly underdeveloped script.

What unfolds feels oddly pedestrian and low-energy. The craft of adaptation is to distil a story’s themes, characters and cultural context into something theatrically vivid and emotionally truthful. Here, however, the narrative feels cluttered with too many half-developed ideas, while the characters rarely emerge beyond simplistic types. Much of the action is delivered through a predictable linear narration by Omar (Justin Kendal-Sadiq), as he tries to make sense of life following his family’s move from Whitechapel to Harrow, and he begins at a new school.

Aimed at audiences aged 7+, it is unclear how old the children are actually meant to be. The performances often fall into generic ‘kid’ behaviour rather than reflecting the layered thinking or emotional intelligence real children possess. The classroom scenes feel closer to a children’s sitcom than anything recognisable from a real primary school, with the teacher presented as an exaggerated caricature with colourful and weird hair rather than a believable adult figure. There is an important difference between work that is childlike and work that is simply childish. Too often, Planet Omar settles for the latter. 

The show introduces themes of bullying, identity, racism, friendship, faith and belonging – all potentially rich material – yet never gives any of them enough depth to resonate. Instead, scenes drift from one loosely connected episode to another: random poo and wee jokes; an odd supermarket sequence involving oversized food exploring fasting during Ramadan; an unexplained flying orange dragon puppet; references to Boris Johnson’s ‘letterbox’ comments. Big themes are constantly raised only to be abandoned moments later, while the narration continues telling us about emotions and context that the production itself never meaningfully explores.

Many of the supporting characters feel built from cliché rather than observation. The bully predictably turns out to be neglected at home and is redeemed far too easily; the racist elderly neighbour abruptly embraces Eid and samosas once she realises her Muslim neighbours are “actually quite nice”; the cousin from Leeds is portrayed as dim-witted and inarticulate; even the homeless man on the Underground becomes little more than a narrative device, turning up at the mosque and being given food. The writing repeatedly gestures towards nuance but rarely earns it.

This is a shame, because stories centring British Pakistani Muslim families are hugely important and still too rarely represented on mainstream stages, particularly for younger audiences. While there are glimpses of something more truthful – Omar’s anxieties, the pressure of fitting in, details surrounding Ramadan and family life – these moments are buried beneath frantic plotting.

The result is a production that feels far less imaginative than the books that inspired it: visually uninspired, structurally clumsy and dramatically unsure of what it actually wants to say. Despite the committed efforts of the cast, audiences are ultimately let down. Theatre for children and families demands rigour, imagination and nuance. Sadly, this production delivers very little of any of them.

From the book by Zanib Mian
Adapted for the stage by Asif Khan
Director: Sameena Hussain
Set, Costume, Puppet Design and Puppet Director: Nikki Charlesworth
Lighting Designer: Sam Osborne
Sound Designer & Composer: Helen Skiera
Movement Director & Voice Coach: Zoe Katsilerou
Fight Director: Kenan Ali
Associate Lighting Designer: Ryan Dunnett

Planet Omar is aimed at ages 7+ and continues its run at Unicorn Theatre until Sunday 7 June.