Bobak dances, clowns and flings himself about the stage for an hour as he tells the audience about his Iranian heritage and growing up in Bristol in the 90s where Islamophobia and racism were running riot with the media appointing the Middle East as a dangerous place with dangerous people and the EDL (English Defence League) recruiting local white men more and more.
This show disproves all the harmful stereotypes of Middle Eastern people
We begin with Bobak acting as a comedic Iranian character as he jokes and displays certain aspects of his nationality such as fragrance, food and drink and the Iranian language itself. Bobak then switches to himself narrating his life in Bristol as an Iranian British kid b-boying in the streets and tagging walls with his friends.
We meet Rob, a character who represents the white men of the time who would join the EDL; want to keep Britain white and dislike refugees.
We meet the lady who owns the local pub who is empathetic towards refugees coming in as her family came from Ireland and were treated with prejudice when they arrived to England similar to the way Bobak’s family are treated.
Bobak describes a time where his families house and garden was vandalised. This show is a comical dance show, however hearing this makes you realise that Bobak’s stories are reality for many Middle East families that arrive in the UK.
Bobak talks about the serious issues within the UK and the Middle East through spoken word, clowning and dance. He tells us of a time where he felt ashamed to be Iranian due to the discrimination he felt in the UK. In the story he goes to Iran with his family to not only find comfort, good food and love but also stumbles upon some fellow B-boys in a park in Iran where he made life long friends.
This show disproves all the harmful stereotypes of Middle Eastern people and brings a sense of humanity a warm feeling in your heart.
This is a show with an important message, but it does become a little hard to follow at times. He switches characters and setting so often I did end up left confused a couple times to what was going on. Maybe some refining is needed. But not Bobak's dancing - that was stellar.
