Nyla Levy’s entertaining play has its origins in her frustrations as an actor with both Muslim and Jewish heritage. Tired of being stereotyped, she’s eager to create roles with more nuance.
The result is a sparky three-hander focusing on teenager Yasmin, who leaves south-west London for a new life in Syria, after apparently being radicalised. Her best friend Aisha (Halema Hussain) and school bully Morgan (Eleanor Williams) try to fathom why the never notably religious Yasmin would choose to make this dangerous journey.
The answer, relayed in flashbacks, isn’t straightforward. Despite seeming streetwise, Yasmin feels isolated by racism, her mother’s ill health, her father’s decision to embark on a fresh relationship and the repeated rejections of snooty employers.
This 80-minute piece is performed with a lot of verve — especially by Levy herself as Yasmin. Mingyu Lin directs with a keen sense of the way technology saturates the girls’ lives, though the staging — involving some rotating columns — is a bit unwieldy.
The script’s reflections on its own theatricality can also be clumsy but mostly this is a sharp and funny look at a serious subject.
Until June 8 (020 7478 0100, sohotheatre.com)
