Why There Ought to Be Extra Muslim Playwrights

Writing for the stage must be accessible for everybody – Side eYe desires to be a part of the answer.

I used to be fortunate sufficient to go to a comparatively respectable secondary college, the place annual journeys to The Globe and West End theatres had been the norm. I used to be smitten with theatre from the very starting, however like many others, it felt fully overseas to me. Shakespeare felt like a relic, and even the West End performs that felt extra modern, like The Curious Incident of the Dog within the Night-time, weren’t something near my lived expertise. 

The world of theatre has modified considerably since I used to be an adolescent, with performs like Peanut Butter and Blueberries by Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, Blue Mist by Mohamed Zain-Dada, and Statues by Azan Ahmed centring Muslims who’re unapologetically themselves. Rabiah Hussain’s thought-provoking work, Word-Play, can also be a wonderful instance of how our lived experiences as Muslims can lead to experimental artwork that reveals the state of the nation. 

It was this identical ethos that led to the creation of the Side eYe writers group. Side eYe started as a platform for Black and Muslim creatives, and when the collective began in 2018, the ambition was to work on one play staged as a part of the Somali Week Festival. Now, in 2025, we’ve created a neighborhood of Muslim girls theatre-makers. And with the writers group, we’ve aimed to present our neighborhood the braveness and platform to have their tales advised.

Each 12 months, we stage new work as a part of the Somali Week Festival, and ordinarily, we challenge an open name to discover a story written by a Somali girl. But each time we face what’s admittedly the very best type of drawback, the standard of labor is so distinctive that selecting one turns into almost not possible, and we discover ourselves wanting to attach with everybody. Throughout the years, we’ve been approached by many Muslim girls who share their writing and specific curiosity in working with us. So we started asking ourselves, why not discover a option to highlight extra writers and produce all of them into the fold? And from that, the Side eYe writers group was born.

The group started as a approach for us to attach with Muslim girls from all walks of life and experiences. Some arrived with expertise of stage work already, like Amal Abdi, whose one-woman present, Desperate Times, was first staged by Side eYe at Somali Week Festival 2023. Others introduced expertise from completely different corners of the theatre world, similar to directing, producing or tangential industries like tv. Some had already discovered their place in brief story writing, cultural commentary and poetry, becoming a member of out of a rising curiosity about playwriting. What united all of them was a shared dedication to crafting tales for the stage and a willingness to be taught not solely from our facilitators however from each other.

Over the span of a 12 months, round 15 of us devoted a Saturday afternoon each six weeks to the group, with classes facilitated by completed writers and dramaturgs from working-class, Black, brown and different marginalised backgrounds. 

Our group members not solely realized in regards to the tenets of playwriting and storytelling, similar to world-building, character improvement, dialogue development and narrative construction – however in addition they gained entry to business data that’s usually tough to acquire. From our facilitators, who included Olivier Award-winners Matilda Feyisayo Ibini and Waleed Akhtar, they realized learn how to construct careers within the arts and learn how to navigate this business, which may usually really feel opaque and inaccessible. 

It’s no shock to many people that the artistic industries are dominated by folks from middle-class backgrounds. The Sutton Trust discovered that younger adults from working-class backgrounds are 4 instances much less more likely to break into these fields than these from wealthier households. An identical report by The Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre revealed that 90% of individuals working throughout the humanities, tradition and heritage sectors are white, in contrast with 80% of the final workforce. We don’t want statistics to inform us what we already know, nevertheless it’s helpful for business insiders to be reminded of this disparity.

We are decided to fight these statistics

By making a writers group for gratis to members, which caters to a component of our shared lived experiences as Muslims, we sought to create a secure area that allowed us to inform tales we’re keen about. Our purpose is to take away boundaries to entry – girls shouldn’t have to have skilled credit or household cash to make or work in theatre.

Our group gives members with an area that centres their narratives and doesn’t pander to the white gaze. We have the liberty to pursue the tales that matter to them, and this freedom has taken us in each path. We’ve seen scripts exploring Islamophobia, the influence of migration, and the insidious attain of misogynoir. In a political surroundings that’s changing into more and more hostile to us, taking management over our personal tales is extra necessary than ever.

We’ve additionally embraced satire and comedy as a device to look at the political realities that dictate our fashionable age, from theatre about politically-motivated abductions to housemates navigating shock evictions and ill-timed burglaries alongside racism and classism. 

This 12 months, our contribution to the Somali Week Festival took a special form. In earlier years, we’ve spotlighted one standout script, most notably Sabrina Ali’s Dugsi Dayz, which finally made its option to the Royal Court. Seeing how Dugsi Dayz’ profitable Edinburgh Fringe run catapulted Sabrina’s profession has solely pushed us additional – what stands between many ladies and a full-fledged vocation in theatre is the possibility to share their work. 

We wished to offer this chance to extra girls, and this 12 months, we selected to platform ten members, giving every the possibility to see their work carried out on stage. Our closing showcases befell at New Diorama Theatre this October, the place skilled actors introduced their phrases to life. For many, it marked their first skilled credit score, and we hope it’s solely the start of the tales they’ll go on to inform.

As we glance towards subsequent 12 months, we’re hoping to construct on all the pieces we’ve realized and proceed creating an area the place new voices can develop. If you’re somebody who has a journal or perhaps a Notes app filled with poems, potential plots or tales in your head that you just need to develop additional, Side eYe would genuinely love to listen to from you. You don’t want any expertise, simply an curiosity in exploring your voice and being a part of a supportive, artistic neighborhood. We can’t wait to get began. 

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If the Side eYe writers group appears like one thing you’d prefer to be concerned in, you may register your curiosity and keep linked by filling out this survey.