Productions

Ready or Not

by Naylah Ahmed

Spring 2017

Regret and loss collide with fear and paranoia in a distorted reality fed by 24 hour global newsfeeds, blogs and chat rooms.

Ready Or Not was a response to the distortions and constant media feeding created by the so called war on terror. ‘In the 16 years since 9/11, so much has changed; paranoia has grown, the ‘us’ and ‘them’ rhetoric gathers pace, and 24/7 news coverage in the post-truth era now provides a soundtrack to our lives. The war on terror has left countries and peoples ravished with untold numbers of non-combatants killed – untold because they’re uncounted. Ready or Not explores these themes in a domestic setting where three characters deal with their own personal battles within this wider global context.’

– Naylah Ahmed

★★★★“Ready Or Not is a thought-provoking political thriller that questions our concepts of war and terror. ”
-londontheatre1

★★★ “Ahmed has packed this play with ideas not just about the clash of civilizations but about motherhood, guilt, teaching and more.”
Everything Theatre

★★★ Ready or Not  is an ambitious black comedy which thrives in its darker moments… the violence is gripping for its plausibility … Pat, is played as steely nerves coming undone by a superb Joan Blackham…. a story of grief and the latent fear of otherness… real and cutting observations of growing up Muslim in a country unhappy to see you”  Joe-Vesey-Byrne, The Independent

“Ahmed’s neat inversion of terrorist tropes is inspired” FringeReview, RECOMMENDED SHOW

 

 

Joan Blackham received a nomination for Best Female In A Play from the Offies (the Off West End Theatre Awards)

Writer Naylah Ahmed

Naylah is an established writer for theatre, radio and TV. Prior to her playwriting and screenwriting career she was a radio drama producer with extensive experience of developing writers, ideas and story. She was the first Development Producer for BBC Radio Drama Birmingham and founding Script Editor on the award winning soap SILVER STREET (BBC […]

About the writer
About the Play

“Brilliant – loved the complexity and distinct perspective of the characters”

Audience member, MAC Birmingham

“Powerful and thought-provoking”

Audience member, Marlowe Studio Canterbury

“A powerful, multilayered exploration of a vast number of important issues”

Audience member, MAC Birmingham

“Very impactful, poignant, emotive”

Audience member, Arcola Theatre

“Very thought-provoking. Good balance of humour and darkness”

Audience member, Arcola Theatre
Dates and Venue Info

BIRMINGHAM

MAC – Midlands Arts Centre
5 – 6 April 2017

CANTERBURY

The Marlowe Studio
7 – 8 April 2017

LONDON

Arcola Theatre
11-29 April 2017

PLYMOUTH

Plymouth Drum
16 – 20 May 2017

Cast and Crew

Cast and Crew

Cast
Joan Blackham, Adam Karim & Natasha Rickman
Director
Helena Bell
Design
Sophia Lovell Smith Based on initial design ideas by Rajha Shakiry
Lighting
Katharine Williams
Video
Daniel Denton
Sound
Chris Drohan
Fight Director
Philip d'Orléans

Intrepid plays
by fearless women
since 1991

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