#ishy din

[fyeahrebeccafront]

BBC Radio 4 - Loose Ends, Lesley Sharp, Rebecca Front, Omar Meziane, Ishy Din, Art Brut, Novelist, Arthur Smith, Clive Anderson

Clive Anderson and guests with an eclectic mix of conversation, music and comedy.

[beatsnorth]

Beats North is BACK!

One year on from the Roundabout in Summerhall, Summer Streets and Sunderland Stages, Beats North is back, with a new tour for Autumn 2015. This September / October we will be visiting The Garage Norwich, The Continental Preston, Northern Stage Newcastle, Jabberwocky Market Darlington and Customs House South Shields. For more info and tickets visit Company TSU’s website

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Beats North has been nominated for the Brighton Fringe Award for Excellence at the Edinburgh Fringe!! 

[theatrist]

Review: Snookered, Bush Theatre

Rating: 3/5 Cabbie-cum-playwright Ishy Din’s debut is the first in a trilogy about the experiences of British Pakistani men living in England. Neatly directed by Iqbal Khan, this short, snappy drama from Tamasha theatre company shoots through at 95 minutes without an interval.

It is the sixth anniversary of T’s death and, as is their custom, four of his old school friends meet up at a dingy snooker hall to mark the occasion with a piss-up and a night of pool. But as the shots are knocked back, secrets start to come out and friendships are pushed to their limits.

It’s a boisterous play and, as the more comic parts, the two Mr Khans milk their roles for laughs – and the audience is happy to oblige; there was certainly plenty of guffawing on press night. And yes, live pool takes place. Which seems a risky thing to leave to chance, but either these guys are very lucky or they have spectacular hand-eye coordination – they’re certainly very gifted at sinking the white for comedic effect. Din’s lively premiere tells a tale of guilt, obligation, frustrated dreams and coconuts, challenging any potential preconceptions or generalisations about Pakistani culture along the way. Frankly, it makes a bloody nice change to have young Muslim men represented on stage in something other than the stock orange uniforms.

Snookered runs until 24 March at the Bush Theatre, 7 Uxbridge Road, London W12 8LJ. For tickets, call 020 8743 5050 or click here.

Photo: Alastair Muir