Hearts and Minds

Press Release
For Immediate Release:

The Drum and Khayaal Theatre Company present
Hearts and Minds
Wednesday 18 Nov, 7.30pm

Exploring conflicting discourses, loyalties and identities, Khayaal Theatre’s Hearts and Minds investigates some of what it means to be a young British Muslim today.

Featuring the poetry of Allamah Iqbal and Mirza Ghalib and the music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and MC Mello, Hearts and Minds is the story of a teenage boy – Asif. Pakistani by memory, urban British by culture and Muslim by sentiment, Asif appears to be in his groove. Cutting his entrepreneurial teeth by selling pirated wares and trumpeting his adolescence with a blend of gab and feigned indifference, Asif is doing it his way. If his heart and mind belong to anyone, it would be Queen Elizabeth…as long as she was stuck on the back of a bank note.

But all of that is about to change, a school project challenges him to feel. A zealous classmate wants him to get real, his doormat dad won’t stand up and his favourite rap group have just been banged up and that’s just for starters. As the pressure of life mount, Asif has to make some difficult choices that will alter the view of himself and the world. Whether he finds a dream worth living or dying for all depends on the state of his heart and mind.

Hearts and Minds is based on extensive consultations and conversations with young Muslims and inspired by actual events and reference points, the play aims to encapsulate some of the dilemmas and discourse occupying the minds of some young Muslims while also proposing creative avenues for reconciliation and resolution.

To book tickets visit www.the-drum.org.uk or call The Drum Box Office on 0121 333 2444

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MEDIA CONTACT: Katie Reid, Marketing Manager on 0121 333 2421 or e-mail: k.reid@the-drum.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

Venue: The Drum 144 Potters Lane Aston Birmingham B6 4UU
Date & Time: Wed 18 Nov, 7.30pm
Ticket Prices: £8 (£6)
Box Office: Call 0121 333 2444 or to book online visit
www.the-drum.org.uk
FaceBook: Drum (West Midlands)
MySpace: thedrumb6
Twitter: the_drum

Commissioning Partners
Hearts and Minds was originally commissioned in late 2007 by the Muslim Education Forum in Luton and Reading-based Berkshire Forum against Extremism and subsequently toured schools, colleges, universities and young offender institutes in both regions. In April 2008, the play was taken on a promotional tour to London playing to school and community audiences as well as to an audience of community leaders and civil servants from across government by DCLG. Hearts and Minds has since been cited as a best practice case study by DCLG, DCSF and the European Union.

Credits
Playwright: Luqman Ali with Eleanor Martin and Mo Sesay
Direction: Eleanor Martin and Mo Sesay
Production: Luqman Ali
Performers: Javaad Malik, Charlie Platt and Claire Suarez
Voice-overs: Thomas Gray and Mo Sesay
Design: Eleanor Martin, Bela Romer and Rebecca Bevan
Music & Sound: Thomas Gray
Stage Manager: Bela Romer

Khayaal Theatre Company
Khayaal Theatre Company was founded in 1997 and is the UK’s first award-winning professional theatre company dedicated to the dramatic exploration of classic Muslim world literature and the experience of Muslims in the modern world within an authentic Islamic ethos and aesthetic. www.khayaal.co.uk I 01582 535840 I enquiries@khayaal.co.uk