At 9am yesterday morning, I was frantically refreshing the Royal Court Theatre ticket booking page for the Djinns of Eidgah, hoping to snag two tickets for the evening performance. Needless to say I was successful in my endeavour and headed there in the evening for the performance. I have one word which sums up this play: WOW. I left the theatre shaking with my mind racing through the past 2 hours of brutal honesty. Majumdar has created an incredibly thought provoking piece of theatre which reaches into your very soul.
Set in the Kashmir Valley, known as the most militarized area in the entire world. It follows the lives of two orphaned children: Bilal and Ashrafi who are searching for an escape and new life. Ashrafi is traumatized by witnessing her father’s murder, as they were on a bus to a wedding and Bilal an aspiring football player who just wants her to receive the help she needs. It also gives insight into the lives of the Indian soldiers occupying the area and a prominent doctor looking to create peace between Kasmir and India.
All the actors were just amazing at inhabiting these difficult and challenging roles. I believed every one of them. Aysha Kala who plays the traumatized Ashrafi particularly stood out to me, she slipped easily between being stuck in the past mentally, still on the bus with her father and too the present.
In my opinion, this is a must see. You will not find another play which leaves you so torn between all the characters and unsure of who is in the right.
Charlotte Taylor 