Ambreen Razia with House Theatre present: The Diary of a Hounslow Girl. A British Muslim teenager faces a conflict of cultures in the return of this coming of age comedy set in the heart of Hounslow. Written by Ambreen Razia, directed by Sophie Moniram, performed by Nyla Levy. National Tour from 9th March to 2nd April, 2017.
An acerbic comedy told through the sharp, straight-talking voice of an aspirational 16 year old British Muslim girl; The Diary of a Hounslow Girl returns as emerging actress Nyla Levy takes on the lead role in Ambreen Razia’s witty debut following its 2016 national tour. This original work, which was nominated for Best Stage Production at the Asian Media Awards 2016, follows the typical life of a “Hounslow Girl” – young Muslim women who wear big hooped earrings along with their headscarves – to challenge stereotypes of young British Muslim women.
Playwright Ambreen Razia offers an astute take on negotiating the hurdles of conservative family values alongside the challenges of teenage life in West London, through her experiences from traditional Pakistani weddings to teenage romance. The Diary of a Hounslow Girl’s humorous approach seeks to upturn stereotypes and bridge generational rifts with a comic yet resonant approach to present-day dilemmas in the face of age-old tradition.
Ambreen Razia said “It’s truly a pleasure to be handing over the role to such an incredibly talented actress! The response from audiences has been fantastic and it’s great to have the opportunity to tour it to 13 new venues this Spring with House Theatre. As a writer, it’s exciting to see Nyla take on the role of Shaheeda with a fresh energy. I can’t wait to see the show with Nyla performing and finally be able to sit back and watch the magic which I’m sure is going to be an overwhelming and very exciting moment.”
Ambreen Razia is a writer and actress from South London. She was recently awarded the Asian Media Awards Best Newcomer 2016 and has performed at venues including The Old Vic, Ovalhouse and The National Theatre. Her recent credits include No Guts, No Heart, No Glory (2015), Mind The Gap (2015), After All This (2015) and BBC Three’s Murdered by my Father (2016). This is Ambreen’s debut play; originally commissioned by and performed at Ovalhouse in 2015 as part of their 33% London programme. Ambreen had previously performed The Diary of a Hounslow Girl in Black Theatre Live’s national tour in 2016 as well as a monologue at Triforce’s MonologueSlam UK in 2014. Alongside The Diary of a Hounslow Girl team she is currently developing her second play, POT, exploring the landscape of Britain’s invisible children, adrift in the care system and inadvertently impacted by gang culture. Both Ambreen and Nyla will be appearing in feature film Finding Fatimah, a British Muslim romantic comedy to be released later this year, starring Nina Wadia and Danny Ashok.
Nyla Levy is an actor, writer and theatre maker. Nyla has worked with companies such as BBC, Complicite, Lyric Hammersmith, Tamasha, Tara Arts and Cardboards Citizens. Venues she has performed at include Battersea Arts Centre, Theatre 503, The Lowry, Hackney Empire, Nottingham Playhouse, The Finborough, The Bush and New Diorama Theatre. Nyla wrote her first play Normal with a bit of OOMPH! a verbatim/documentary style piece exploring female body image, which debuted as a Rehearsed Reading at RichMix in Feb 2016. Recently, Nyla was selected by the Lyric Hammersmith to join their programme for young writers – Development Lab – which she continues to work with on her next project Does My Bomb Look Big In This? Nyla is also co-Artistic Director of Two’s Company, who have been announced as one of the New Diorama Theatre’s Emerging Companies 2016/17.
Running Time: 85 minutes | Suitable for ages 14+ (Some swearing)
Company Information
Performed by Nyla Levy Written by Ambreen Razia
Directed by Sophie Moniram Lighting Design by Paul O’Shaughnessy
Set and Costume Design by Petra Hjortsberg Stage Management by Sinead Sexton
Dramaturgy by Neil Grutchfield Project Management by Maeve O’Neill
