A Muslim mother and daughter are preparing for Ramadan when their window is smashed by a bloodied pig’s head that is flung into their home.
Despite this opening, Salaam is not a straight-up exploration of Islamophobia. It is set in 2017, the year of the attacks at London Bridge and Finsbury Park, and the fallout of terror and hate reverberates in the emotional lives of the British Asian mother, Mariam (Yasmin Wilde), and daughter, Rema (Raagni Sharma). But the focus of Sara Aniqah Malik’s script is on the women’s relationship with their faith.
For Mariam, the Qur’anic scripture she reads in Arabic brings inner peace even though she does not always know its meanings. Rema is suspicious of her mother’s reading (“Do you even understand it?”), but writes compulsive poetry about being a British Muslim which she barely understands herself and describes as “gibberish”. In both cases, words provide spiritual comfort even if their meanings cannot be fully grasped. While this leads to some profound and lyrical discussions, the play delivers its messages heavily while the narrative drive flags.
A plot begins to form when a neighbour, Ellie (Laura Waldren), offers Rema a friendship, of sorts, but the drama resists coming together as a whole. Characters are underdeveloped, too. Rema’s mental health issues are mentioned too late and explained in a passing line.
Salaam is part of London’s Vault festival, and the subterranean venue lends the right mix of intimacy and claustrophobia; the women are only ever seen at home, stranded with each other, on Roisin Martindale’s small, circular stage.
The daily rhythms of their lives – ablutions, prayers, fasting rituals – are evoked in synchronised movements accompanied by a violinist and vocalist. There are glimmers of beauty in moments like these, but it feels like a play still searching for its centre.
Salaam is at the Vaults, London, until 3 February. The Vault festival continues until 3 February.
