Peaceophobia @ Q Park
Alongside its fast cars, dizzying theatrical devices and pounding beats, Common Wealth's Peaceophobia counters prejudice with stories of humour, passion, and belief
Four levels underground in Edinburgh’s Omni Shopping Centre car park complex, Fringe-goers find themselves in the cavernous setting for Peaceophobia, co-directed by young women from Bradford-based organisation Speakers Corner and award-winning, site-specific theatre company Common Wealth.
The revving of car engines layered with pulsing electronic drones and hip-hop beats immediately immerses the audience in the world of the performers. Mohammad Ali Yunis, Casper Ahmed and Sohail Hussain are three Muslim men from Bradford connected by their shared love of cars. In their initial address to the audience, they take us through their codes of conduct to ensure the upkeep of their beloved vehicles and the strict rules of etiquette in respecting others. This devotion ties directly into the men’s accounts of their faith, as the episodic structure of the play layers together stories of culture and community with wit and charm.
As one of the performers chronicles the evolution of his favourite model of Volkswagen Golf GTR, he is intermittently interrupted by a much more insidious narrative running parallel to his own. An ominous voice relays the dates from the past decade that have contributed to growing rates of Islamophobia in cities like Bradford. The effect is the dehumanising reality of a personal identity being inextricably linked with incomplete cultural assumptions, a reality which hits home through fraught interactions with the police and members of the public.
What Peaceophobia does well is counter prejudice with stories of humour, passion, and belief. It is an education in the guiding principles people maintain in the face of animosity and suspicion. We are offered diverse and vital portraits of Englishness and masculinity. Sometimes the high-octane musical score and complex theatrical mechanisms risk drowning out the richness of the men’s stories as they are, and the episodes often snap from one moment to the next with dizzying pace. Nevertheless, the audience will not miss out on Peaceophobia’s arresting, human core.
Peaceophobia, Q Park, run ended; Peaceophobia plays Greenwich + Docklands International Festival, 7-10 Sep
commonwealththeatre.co.uk/bradford/speakers-corner/