When: 11th April – 30th June 2018
Where: Across the UK, beginning at Ovalhouse, London (see below)
£: Ticket prices vary, depending on the venue (Suitable for ages 14+ due to profanity and themes of violence, and emotional and religious coercion)
What is it?
Coconut, a new play based on writer Guleraana Mir’s real experience of interracial and intercultural relationships, will embark on a UK tour from this month.
The play aims to challenge dated Asian female stereotypes with an honest portrait of the contemporary British Asian experience. With its unremitting humour, Mir explores the impact of religion and faith – and the lack of it – in modern romance.
As her faith wanes, Rumi enjoys a glass of wine and a bacon sandwich more than a trip to the mosque. A British Pakistani woman, born and raised a Muslim, she may have hit the jackpot with Simon, who is willing to convert to Islam to keep her family happy. But, as Simon begins to explore his faith, Rumi’s world begins to spin off its axis.
Although irreverent in tone, this dark comedy tackles grey areas of emotional and religious coercion. Coconut refers to the controversial term used to describe someone who is brown on the outside and white on the inside and this production does not shy away from interrogating the contemporary British Asian experience.
Coconut will see the professional debut of Kuran Dohil as Rumi. The cast will also include Jimmy Carter (The Giant Killers, Edinburgh Fringe; Othello, Baron Court’s Theatre; Romeo and Juliet, Iris Theatre) as Simon and Tibu Fortes (A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Shakespeare’s Globe; Requiem, BBC/Netflix; People Just do Nothing, BBC3) who will play Riz and the Imam.
Coconut is presented by The Thelmas, a female-led theatre company focused on championing the voices of women in theatre. They aim to disrupt traditional female narratives and make theatre that is big, bold and emotionally resonant. Coconut will be their first touring production.
The tour dates are as follows:
11th – 28th April at Ovalhouse, London SE11 5SW
16th May at ARC Stockton Arts Centre, Stockton on Tees TS18 1LL
19th May at Derby Theatre, Derby DE1 2NF
24th May at Oldham Coliseum, Oldham OL1 3SW
26th May at The Curve, Slough SL1 1XY
18th June at Guildhall Arts Centre, Grantham NG31 6PZ
19th June at Brewhouse Arts Centre, Burton Upon Trent DE14 1EB
27th June at Lincoln Drill Hall, Lincoln LN2 1EY
28th June at the Old Library, Mansfield NG18 1NG
29th June at South Holland Centre, Spalding PE11 1SS
30th June at Attenborough Arts Centre, Leicester LE1 7HA
More info: www.thethelmas.co.uk/coconut
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