Peaceophobia  
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Multi-Storey Car Park
London E15

“IF ISLAM is derived from peace, how can you fear peace?” is the crucial question at the heart of this topical production, challenging everyday Islamophobia faced by young Muslim men.    

Premiering in London as part of this year’s Greenwich + Docklands International Festival, the setting for Peaceophobia is a multistorey car park (and by all accounts that goes for wherever it’s on), this time it’s east London’s Here East — a legacy site of London’s 2012 Olympics as well as the site for arguably one of London’s biggest gentrification operations within the last 10 years.

It’s perfectly fitting for the story of three young working-class Muslim men who bond over good music and, particularly, car modification — cars being both their sanctuary in escaping rising prejudice as well as ironically a catalyst for it.

The audience come into a space of revving engines, loud music and neon lighting as we are introduced to our three protagonists, Mohammad Ali Yunis, Casper Ahmed, and Sohail Hussain, who drive on to the set in their beloved cars.

Here they each let us into their world of building friendships through modifying cars. And very engagingly narrate their individual — but not dissimilar — encounters with Islamophobia, whether that’s racial profiling from the authorities or dealing with racists on the street.

These three young men from Bradford eloquently and unapologetically challenge the stereotype that brown men who have nice cars or go on holiday must be drug dealers or associated with terrorists.

But while the subject matter is sobering and serious, this isn’t your run-of-the-mill polemic, the performers are engrossing, funny and heartfelt.

There’s a touching scene where Yunis gives a rundown of important dates in the VW Golf’s history, only to be interrupted by his own (talking) car which highlights dates that have contributed to the rise in Islamophobia — September 11 2001, July 7 2005, Prevent, Bradford riots, war on Iraq, the list goes on.

Written by playwright Zia Ahmed (although the characters’ experiences are all lived), it’s got an interesting background to it — a joint project by women activists from Speaker’s Corner Collective and award-winning theatre company Common Wealth, Bradford Modified Club, and Fuel.

Although its stint at Here East is short (last performance is on September 10), it’s well worth catching if you can.

Indie Purcell