Ahlam’s You Bury Me arrived at the intimate Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond on Monday and will continue showings until April 22nd.
The play is about the city of Cairo and the lives of six young characters within it, including Rafik (Nezar Alderazi), Tamer (Moe Bar-El), Osman (Tarrick Benham), Alia (Hanna Khogali), Lina (Eleanor Nawal) and Maya (Yasemin Özdemir).
The show is directed by award-winning Katie Posner, who was joint-winner of the women’s of the inaugural Women’s Prize for Playwriting 2020 which included a £12,000 prize.
You Bury Me was Ahlam’s political debut and paints a picture of a generation determined to live and love freely after revolution.
Hanna Khogali, playing Alia, said: “Ahlam’s writing is so easy to act as it’s written exactly how people speak”
“Cairo is represented as such a full world filled with energy, and Ahlam did a great job with the description of the beautiful scenes and sound of Cairo.”
The play’s serious themes are complimented by comedy throughout the show.
Hanna said: “You’re crying laughing one minute and being absolutely heartbroken the next.”
Moe Bar-El, playing Tamer, believes that the show’s comedy worked perfectly when contrasted with the more surreal events of the play.
He said: “The show’s comedy is important as it shines light on something that’s generally quite dark.
“The mix of comedy works well with the more surreal situations in the play, which you don’t see very often.”
The award-winning Orange Tree Theatre entertains 70,000 people a year in Richmond and has an intimate relationship with its audience, seating them all around the stage.
You Bury Me is a perfect match for the theatre due to its natural intimacy.
Hanna said: “As the show is so intimate, we can play off each other and it feels really safe.
“We have developed amazing relationships between us all which is helped by the intimacy of the play.”
The play has completed showings in the Bristol Old Vic and The Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh and will finish showings at the Orange Tree Theatre.
Image Credit: Pamela Raith
