Eight-year-old Omar has a big imagination full of dreams, spaceships and dragons. Yet, it is his experiences of Islamophobia that really hit home in this powerful and timely piece of children’s theatre.
The production, adapted from Zanib Mian’s novel by Asif Khan, centres upon Omar (Justin Kendal-Sadiq) who moves with his family from Whitechapel to Harrow, and the tribulations that come with such a seismic event for such a young boy. It is a move which is tough on Omar anyway, fearing making new friends, but this is made even more challenging when racist, Islamophobic, behaviours come Omar’s way, making him feel increasingly like an outsider in his own home. Sneered at by prejudiced neighbours, and threatened with deportation by naive classmates parroting the bigotry of their relatives, Omar’s journey across the two-hour piece sees him reconcile with the cruel, scary, reality of a society where not everyone is as tolerant as he, in a heavy contrast to the gorgeously colourful design and energy the piece radiates.
Kendal-Sadiq is excellent in capturing the confused protagonist Omar, still immersed in childhood imagination which is partially eroded by the cruelty of reality, and delivers a commanding lead performance that is full of fun and energy but also great sincerity too. While the production leans heavily on multi-rolling, Kendal-Sadiq’s consistency as Omar is a welcome constant which pulls the piece together with great clarity, but there is also an evident maturing of Omar as a result of his experiences brought to the fore.
What makes Planet Omar such an impressive feat of children’s theatre, however, is the maturity that it carries despite its goofy characterisation, colourful set and colossal props. Asif Khan’s adaptation of Mian’s novel presents an authentic insight into a British Muslim family, but pulls no punches via stark dialogue in exploring the painful experiences of prejudice that all members of the family, regardless of age, face. While Omar is rightly incensed, there is a quiet poise from Mum (Aizah Khan) and Dad (Umar Butt) representing the long-standing prejudice that British Muslims have faced, with Aizah Khan particularly impressive using subtle gestures and a pained, resigned yet stoic, expression when up against their cruel new neighbour.
In this respect, it is a balanced piece, swinging from Omar’s outlandish daydreams to the brutal silences of bigoted neighbour Mrs Rodgers (an elderly Daily Mail swinging stereotype captured well by Joanna Holden), cradling her newspaper with an anti-migrant front page and rudely dismissing Omar’s family in a manner which makes her intolerance clear to all ages. This is coupled with school bully Daniel’s (an effective Emaan Durrani) demands that Omar’s family be sent back home, in a painful reminder that racist views at home can permeate the school walls too. Asif Khan’s script and Sameena Hussain’s direction combine well here, with the starkly clear characterisation effective upon the younger audiences while references to Boris Johnson’s offensive remarks about Muslim women resonate with the adults in the room. It does, though, conclude typical of children’s theatre but one that feels a little too clean given the subject matter, with each act on either side of the interval a tonal shift from the other.
That said, the piece works best in its moments of creativity, rather than in some of its boggier dialogue-heavy scenes, vital for the message but running the risk of losing its younger viewers. The gorgeous set, designed by Nikki Charlesworth to mimic a play frame, captures the youthful spirit of Omar and friend Charlie (Izzy Coward) to great effect, with doors, hoops and ladders scattered providing opportunities for quick entrances and exits to maintain the piece’s pace. Meanwhile, the standout use of puppetry, seen not just in Omar’s imaginary dragon but also in the inspired choice to present Omar’s two-year-old brother, Esa, a spirited toddler, is a neat touch.
Planet Omar is a creative, colourful and inspiring piece of children’s theatre. It educates about Muslim life, such as types of prayer and Ramadan, in a manner that is engaging yet purposeful to the plot, all the while using Omar’s delightfully innocent ways to say something much heavier about society today, and to provoke questions about tolerance, friendship and the importance of human connection.
