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Four London teenagers sit, bored and trapped inside on a Saturday. They’ve been robbed of their free time, but worst of all they have been subjected to the company of their fellow troublemakers. Taking inspiration from John Hughes’s seminal 1985 film ‘The Breakfast Club’ – about a motley crew of American high school students punished with a weekend detention – Sabrina Ali sets her play in a dugsi: a term British Somalis use to describe a religious school.
They turn up frustrated, brash and full of secrets: they are each reluctant to reveal the real reason why they’re here to their peers. Usually, they wouldn’t give each other the time of day but in detention, the only thing they’ve got to do is talk. As the hour ticks on and their elusive teacher still hasn’t shown his face, the girls start to bond by sharing horror stories based on Somalian folk tales and passing gossip round like its breaking news.
At the play’s centre is a mystery. Where did the aloof, angry Hani disappear to for two years? The remaining trio – Munira, Yasmin and Salma, all have their own beliefs. Did she become a drug dealer? Get pregnant and had a baby in Year 9? The big reveal is held back until the play’s final moments which means the pacing feels off throughout. Often, it feels like we’re waiting for the script to kick into action.
The structure can be forgiven though because Ali’s play seeps with realism, relatability and endless charm. This is a picture of adolescence in 2024: phones are clutched tightly, TV shows like ‘Stranger Things’ are constant points of comparison. The girls tease each other eagerly: goody two shoes Salma makes fun of Munira for having dyslexia – much to everyone else's dismay. Yasmin is painted as being materialistic and shallow. The word ‘haram’ is thrown around every other sentence, and cultural references are blended into the dialogue with a natural ease.
There is a zappy quality to their conversation that bounces between near cruelty and harmless fun. All of it oozes with teenage spirit, angst and humour and the four actors Susu Ahmed, Hadsan Mohamud, Faduma Issa and Sabrina Ali all play their parts with zeal. As Salma, Ahmed is a particular treat: she shakes with fear when she drops the Quran on the floor and works hard to follow Islamic law. Directed by Poppy Clifford, the play has a raw and vibrant quality – the girls feel like they could feasibly exist. It is almost as if the walls of a dugsi have been sliced open and we’re listening in.