Belgrade Theatre do it again with the showing of a brilliant play for children aged 5 and above. Jabala and the Jinn is a creation by writer Asif Khan who brings a play together that not only makes you laugh (and dance) but provides some excellent chances to talk about difficult emotions with your children including death and loneliness.
My girls laughed, danced, sang and joined in with this play. Although streamed onto our TV screen, it felt as if we were there. Fantastically performed, wonderfully filmed and overall a brilliant theatre show.
Natalie Davies playing Jabala, a schoolgirl from Bradford
Jabala (played by Natalie Davies) goes to school calling herself Ruth. She worries that she won’t fit in with her Asian ethnicity and believes the other school children will want to hang out with her more if she has a different name. Jabala is going through some big emotions inside following the death of her Mummy and with her Daddy (Jay Varsani) saying they shouldn’t be sad, she’s trying to be strong on the outside and make her “…Daddies eyes smile”.
Jay Varsani in the role of Munir
One day Jabala hears a voice in her house. It is speaking Arabic and she doesn’t know who it is. Is it her mother? “As-Salam-u-Alaikum”. The lights flicker as the voice speaks and Jabala wants to know who it is. Is it her Mummy ghost?
At school Jabala meets Munir (Jay Varsani). A refugee boy from Yemen who wants to make friends but it’s not easy. Jabala thinks people won’t want to play with her if she plays with “refugee boy”, so tries to ignore Munir too. That is, until she realises Munir can speak Arabic and he might just be able to help her with the voice at home.
Jabala invites Munir over to her house. She asks him to call up and find out who the person is. Munir says it could be a Jinn and they decide to use some garlic magic to summon the Jinn “althawm altaarikh”
Matilda and Jemima laughing at Jabala and Munir
This Jinn is not your typical Jinn. Not like the ones told in Munir’s grandmother’s stories but a bored, only child Jinn called Sarah (Safiyya Ingar) who longs to be a human. Sarah can be a human, if she collects 7 different things… Gold, Diamond, 10 grams of human hair, 3 slugs… and what else? And how will the mischievous Jinn try to get them?
Safiyya Ingar as Sarah the cheeky Jinn
A fabulous production, performed by three incredibly talented individuals.
Jabala and the Jinn is available to stream for only £10 from Wednesday 31st March to 24th April 2021. You can book your tickets here: https://www.belgrade.co.uk/events/jabala-and-the-jinn/
Disclaimer: I was given complimentary tickets in return for an honest review.
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