A provocative new play explores the issue of tackling problems facing the Arab, Jewish and Muslim communities across the world.

The one man show, ‘Love, Bombs & Apples’, uses comedy as a vehicle and details the lives of four different men with four individual struggles.

It the latest play from award winning playwright Hassan Abdulrazzak.

 The stories are told from the perspective of unrelated characters including Emad, a Palestinian actor playing Hamlet at AlKasba theatre. On the opening night, he meets a beautiful English girl. But he can’t take her to his parents’ nor his friends’.

‘Level 42’ tells the story of a British Muslim jailed under suspicion of terrorism. Sajid is a Pakistani born aspiring writer. He pens what he thinks will be the definitive post 9/11 novel which he sends to all the publishers and critics in Britain. 

In scene three ‘The Apple’, a Bradford youth is in love with the Mac store at Westfield. His object of desire is the iPhone yet he suspects that Westfield was built to pacify Asian youth like himself, stopping him and others from going over to Syria for jihad.

But doesn’t the iPhone have a lot in common with ISIS?
The final scene, Landing Strip presents a Jew torn between his liberal girlfriend and Zionist father. Isaac is in love with Sarah but things are going sour between them. She is a pro-Palestinian activist and his father fights tooth and nail for Israel. Tonight, Isaac must decide which side he is on.

Hassan said: “I wanted to take on big subjects through the medium of comedy, which I feel the short story format allows you to do very well. 

“The show is very theatrical, and driven by several political messages, but at the same time has some elements of stand up.

“ I wanted to create interesting stories that will engage the audience, make them laugh and think about the world in a slightly different way than they did before entering the theatre.”
Bringing the script to life, lead actor Asif Khan (The Nutcracker, The Book) shifts seamlessly between the individual stories.

Speaking on his role he said: “There are many challenges such as fully embodying physically and vocally each of the four characters I’m playing.

“But I think the most challenging thing with this piece in particular is stamina - having the stamina to keep the audience fully engaged for 90 minutes, with no interval!”

In the North West the play is at the Oldham Coliseum Theatre Studio on Mon 11, Tues 12 & Weds 13 July - 7.30pm (call 0161 624 2829) and Bluecoat, Liverpool Thur 21 & Fri 22 July from 7.30pm (call 0151 702 5324)