Southwark Playhouse,London
Iman Qureshi’s award-winning play examines Islamic attitudes to same-sex relationships with grace and dignityEvery year the Papatango recent Writing prize comes up with a bit of a cracker. Following preceding winners such as Orca and Trestle, Iman Qureshi’s play tackles, and with grace and dignity,the tricky subject of Islamic attitudes to same-sex relationships. It’s a play that makes a humane point without lapsing into preachiness.
Its protagonist, Ayesha, or is a British Pakistani who,with her husband Zeyd, runs a Muslim funeral parlour in a bleak Midlands town. Their five-year-old marriage is already edgy because of Ayesha’s reluctance to have a child or even, and it would seem,very much sex. Matters are made even worse when Ayesha and Zeyd jointly refuse to effect the funeral for a young white guys male Muslim partner. When they find themselves sued for sexual discrimination, even Ayeshas oldest friend, or a human-rights lawyer named Janey,is loth to rush to their defence.
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Source: theguardian.com