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Ambreen Razia is a proper Hounslow Girl, so what better person to write about being not only this but also a young British Muslim in today’s multi-cultural society. This is what The Diary of a Hounslow Girl relates at The Unity Theatre in Liverpool this Thursday, in this Ambreen’s debut play.
“It’s really exciting and we’ve had some brilliant responses so far. In fact it has been a bit overwhelming, to be honest,” Ambreen said recently. “I worked with young women between the ages of 12 and 16 as a facilitator for a year. Out of that I wanted to write a story about a young British Muslim girl who was coming of age, but I didn’t want to have any kind of political agenda attached to it.
“I wanted to make her really strong and really confident enough to question everything that takes place around her. I think that the young Muslim perspective is something that is lacking today, particularly when it comes to the stage and TV, so hopefully this can give young British Muslim girls a voice.”
Ambreen has long held a passion for writing and is delighted that The Diary of a Hounslow Girl has been so well received. “It is great to have been given the opportunity to express the narratives of Muslim girls in this way. The process was great, but I did have the good fortune to be able to work with these youngsters for a year so really got to know them quite well. It was brilliant being able to observe what their priorities are and what their energy is like.
“After the facilitating finished, I was then able to go away and form a script from what I’d learned, which we then developed over time before Black Theatre Live picked it up and we started to tour. The play has been constantly developing and I must have done about a billion drafts by now, I think, but the more research I carried out the greater the opportunity I had to flesh out the characters.”
Director Sophie Moniram is currently working as an Assistant Director at The Young Vic on their upcoming production of Strindberg’s Creditors, and is a Creative Associate at the Gate Theatre. Her past work includes F**king Outside the Box (VAULT Festival) and he Five Stages of Waiting (Tristan Bates Theatre).
“Sophie has been just fantastic and she quickly got it across that as both the writer and the actor in the play, that I had to swap hats once rehearsals began. It was actually quite hard to do, because it is your piece and you have such a strong vision as to what it should be and what it is saying. What Sophie did though was allow me to be myself and be really open but also kind of shaped the piece through asking a lot of questions.”
The Diary of a Hounslow Girl is a single-hander, which in itself brings its own challenges. “The most challenging thing, particularly being on tour, is getting used to each venue. The concept is that I’m having a conversation with the audience so have to engage with them for 85 minutes. That and the fact that I’m playing a young 16 year old girl, too.”
As well as being Ambreen’s debut play, this is also the writer’s first visit to Liverpool. “I’m really excited about appearing there. I’m also looking forward to playing Bradford and, obviously, Hounslow as well, but Liverpool will be exciting. The problem with being on tour though is that, because we are only at a certain place for one or two nights, I don’t really get the opportunity to get and have a look around.”
And with what has been quite an extensive tour, it might not be too much of a surprise to learn that Ambreen is currently working on a new venture. “I’m working on a new play at the moment, which explores gang culture in the UK, with an emphasis on girls in gangs which – again – I saw a fair amount of working as a facilitator.
“The Treatment for that is more or less complete now, too. I always wanted to act first and foremost, but since I’ve written Hounslow Girl I’ve realised that it is possible to do more than one thing so I think in the future I’ll be trying to do both things equally. The thing about being an actress is that you can find yourself with a lot of spare time on your hands when you are not working. The writing is a great way then to sort of seal the gaps, plus the fact I absolutely love both disciplines because they are just so different.”
The Diary of a Hounslow Girl is at The Unity Theatre, Liverpool on Thursday June 16th For Tickets:0844 8732888 | unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk