Salaam by Sara Aniqah Malik

“They say angels come to earth at this time hovering above our houses
and I think we glow for them like candles in the dark”

A muslim writer debuts play about Islamophobia at VAULT Theatre Festival 2019!

Synopsis

London. 2017. The first night of Ramadan. Rema and Mariam prepare to break the fast. Quiet, alone, and at peace, they prepare for a night of contemplation. A crash. Glass shatters. Everything is changed.

SALAAM explores the relationship between a mother and a daughter as they face mounting Islamophobia, throwing their lives into turmoil. Set during Ramadan 2017, the story explores mental health and the notion of gendered racial abuse. Rema, the daughter, takes a knock to her mental health and turns to writing to heal the wounds, but she is torn between her duty to the community and her duty to herself: how does she thrive in a country that was never built for her? Meanwhile, she is approached by a benevolent girl from her neighbourhood, Ellie, whose offer to help may possess a more sinister ulterior motive.

Combining live music and lyrical language, SALAAM is an experimental and political piece of theatre that charts the cycle of Islamist terrorism and Islamophobia, and the way it affects the everyday Muslim. In writing this play, Sara Aniqah Malik has conducted interviews with Muslim women as well as drawing on her own experience to create an authentic play that seeks to speak the language of London today and asks us how to make a better London of tomorrow.

VAULT Festival 2019, 30 Jan – 03 Feb

The Cavern – VAULT Festival 2019 – Leake Street, London, SE1 7NN

LISTINGS

Performances:
30th January – 3rd February Wednesday – Sunday 6pm
+ Sunday Matinee 3pm Tickets: £15
Running Time: 60 Minutes

Written and Directed by Sara Aniqah Malik Produced by Niall Dingle
Set Design by Roisin Martindale
Lighting Design by Samuel Morley

Music Composed by Kristina Arelyan Starring Raagni Sharma, Yasmin Wilde and Laura Waldren.