Nominated for Best Stage Production, Asian Media Award 2018.
★★★★ “There is nothing on stage to distract us from their storytelling... Iqbal and Shah give storming performances, capturing at first the confident swagger of close friendship and then its vulnerabilities as it fractures.”Guardian
★★★★ “Richard Speir’s direction maintains a smooth fluidity, never becoming static and avoiding clichés”The Stage
★★★★ “Under Richard Speir’s direction of the play is seamless, keeping Hussain’s smart writing at the forefront with minimal staging and special effects.”Theatre Bubble
“Directed by Richard Speir, the focus is unflinching... the climax is wrought”FringeReview
“Richard Speir keeps the action whirling round, separating, joining together, and then splitting up as their relationship comes under stress”ReviewsGate
Yeah, but where are you really from?”
Safa and Aisha have been best friends for years. They used to bunk off school, revise for exams together and even went to the same university.
But now they’re forging different paths for the first time: Safa to work in the City, and Aisha to teach in Newham.
When London is attacked one day in July, Safa and Aisha feel the whole world spinning. As extremes from all sides take hold of the city, can their friendship survive the upheaval?
Spun is the exhilarating debut play from Rabiah Hussain. Seen through the eyes of two British Pakistani Muslim girls from East London, this funny and moving drama unravels the makings of a friendship, microaggressions in the city, and the challenge of keeping rooted through unstable times.
By Rabiah Hussain
 Arcola Theatre / June-July, 2018

Design / Khadija Raza
Lighting / Geoff Hense
Sound / Anna Clock
Movement Director / Nancy Kettle
Photographer: Alex Brenner

Cast
Humaira Iqbal & Aasiya Shah
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