Dizzy (NHB Modern Plays) E-Book

Mohamed-Zain Dada

• Herausgeber: Nick Hern Books
• Kategorie: Poesie und Drama
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 48

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2024

Beschreibung

'You know them Northern Lights you only see in Iceland and Norway? When the particles hit the magnetic poles and BAM. That's what graff became to me. All these mad colours in the sky.' Qamar is a fifteen-year-old maths genius who looks for patterns in everything. Desperate for answers following her brother's death, she meets Stax, an infamous graffiti artist and her brother's former mentor. Under Stax's guidance, Qamar dives into the underground world of street art, and discovers the dream-like space known as the Axis. As she navigates her memories, she uncovers hidden layers of her brother's life and her own. Based on conversations with young people across the UK, Mohamed-Zain Dada's play Dizzy is a fantastical adventure about finding meaning amidst the chaos. It was first produced by Theatre Centre in 2024, in a co-production with Sheffield Theatres where it opened before touring schools and theatres. This edition of the play also includes exclusive original material by renowned artist Cherry Bee. 'Ambitious… doesn't shy away from its deeper themes of grief and loss' - The Stage 'Magical and tender' - WhatsOnStage 'An exciting and incredibly relevant piece of theatre, which should be on every GCSE or A Level curriculum' - Theatre & Tonic

Leseprobe

Mohamed-Zain Dada

DIZZY

With original artwork by Cherry Bee

NICK HERN BOOKS

London

www.nickhernbooks.co.uk

Contents

Original Production Details

Illustrations by Cherry Bee

Writer’s Note

Acknowledgements

Characters

Setting

Note

Dizzy

About the Author

About the Artist

Copyright and Performing Rights Information

Dizzy premiered at Sheffield Theatres on 25 September 2024. It was commissioned by Theatre Centre and is a co-production between Theatre Centre and Sheffield Theatres. The cast was as follows:

QAMAR

Sera Mustafa

STAX

Brendan Barclay

YASEEN

Reda Elazouar

Director and Dramaturg

Rob Watt

Designer

Hannah Sibai

Movement Director

Yami Löfvenberg

Sound Designer &Soundscape Composer

Mwen

Lighting Designer

Jess Brigham

Marketing for Theatre Centre

Rachel Bellman

Graffiti Consultant

Cherry Bee

Producers for Theatre Centre

Rowan Blake Prescott and Emma Rees

Company Stage Manager

Lizzie Bond

Teacher Resource Writer

Susie Ferguson

Schools Tour Booking

Becky Ide

PR

Storytelling PR Jo Allan PR

Marketing Consultants

Jane Morgan Associates

Casting Consultant

Becky Paris

Artwork

Rebecca Pitt

Production Manager

Herbe Walmsley

During the course of writing this play, I commissioned a graffiti mural in Shepherd’s Bush, West London, in honour of Palestinian poet Heba Abu Nada (24 June 1991–20 October 2023). The artwork is by Captain Kris (@captainkris) in partnership with Creative Debuts.

The mural includes an excerpt from Heba’s poem, ‘Not Just Passing’ (translated by Huda Fakhreddine), which was first published in English in Arablit Quarterly on 28 November 2023.

You were first created out of love,so carry nothing but loveto those who are trembling.

Heba Abu Nada was a Palestinian poet, novelist, and educator. Her novel (Oxygen is Not for the Dead) won second place in the Sharjah Award for Arab Creativity in 2017. She was killed in her home in the Gaza Strip by an Israeli airstrike on 20 October 2023. She was thirty-two.

Huda Fakhreddine is Associate Professor of Arabic literature at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a writer, a translator, and the author of several scholarly books.

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Rob Watt for believing in this play from the very beginning. For holding this process with care, commitment and a collaborative spirit. To Rachel Taylor for your brilliant notes. To Gurnesha Bola for your dramaturgical support and encouragement every step of the way.

To the brilliant company: actors Sera Mustafa, Brendan Barclay and Reda Elazouar. To Lizzie Bond, Mwen, Hannah Sibai, Jess Brigham, Yami Löfvenberg, Herbe Walmsley, Becky Paris and Rebecca Pitt. And everyone at Theatre Centre, Sheffield Theatres and Nick Hern Books.

Special thanks to my parents, Fehmida and Ashraf Dada, and my siblings, Zara Al Akku, Nadia Dada, Humzah Al Akku and Nadir Dada. To Barney Clark and Cherry Bee for giving me an insight into the world of graffiti writers with such openness and love. And to all the young people in schools, youth centres and youth groups across England who helped to inform and shape each draft of this play.

M-Z.D., 2024

Characters

QAMAR, fifteen, Arab

STAX / SUNNY, thirty-three

YASEEN / DIZZY,eighteen,Arab

MR KADINSKY

SECURITY GUARD

In the Axis scenes, an (Echo) indicates a voice from the past, present and future.

Setting

The action of the play is set across several locations – each encapsulated by its sonic landscape with the sound of trains rattling by, cars along a dual carriageway or the store announcements of a paint shop.

Note

Dashes (–) at the beginnings and ends of lines of dialogue are intended to be slight pauses or a shift to a different train of thought.

This ebook was created before the end of rehearsals and so maydiffer slightly from the play as performed.

ACT ONE

Scene One

Somewhere, someplace. The Axis. QAMAR is in a hypnoticstate.

QAMAR One foot, in front of the other.

Second to second.

Minute to minute.

Hour to hour.

Inch by inch.

No sense of rhythm.

No sense of time.

Things float by.

Pass by.

Sleepwalking into the present.

Scene Two

A wall which now functions as a memorial with a small bouquetof flowers. A man in a mask, STAX, looks around, takes out aspray can and starts tagging the wall.

QAMAR enters. She takes her phone out and starts filming. STAX, is oblivious.

QAMAR Smile for the camera, criminal.

STAX turns around.

STAX What do you think you’re doing?

QAMAR What do you think I’m doing?

They circle each other.

STAX Put that away.

QAMAR No.

STAX I’m serious.

QAMAR I am documenting a CRIME.

STAX Who do you think you are, Ross Kemp?

QAMAR Won’t be so funny locked behind bars.

STAX What’s the crime?

QAMAR Vandalism.

STAX You wanna see a real criminal –

QAMAR – Defacing a wall –

STAX – go to Canary Wharf –

QAMAR – A wall that is special to me –

STAX – Just put it down, for God’s sake.

QAMAR Don’t use God’s name in vain.

STAX You an evangelical or something?

QAMAR Yes, yes, that’s exactly what I am.

QAMAR points out her hijab.

STAX That was a joke –

QAMAR – A stupid criminal, I see. What are you meant to be?

The masked singer.

STAX Oi, no need to get rude.

STAX gets closer.

QAMAR I know Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

STAX Do you go around telling randoms you know how to fight?

STAX inches closer.

QAMAR I’m like the hijabi Khabib. You don’t wanna mess with me.

STAX And I’m Prince Naz’s step-brother.

QAMAR Don’t underestimate me.

STAX You’re brave, I’ll give you that.

QAMAR No, no, no. It’s not about bravery. It’s about what’s right.

STAX You don’t understand who you’re dealing with, do you?

QAMAR I have a clear idea.

STAX Do you?

STAX circles her.

QAMAR A man with zero morals.

I don’t care what you do to me.