THEATRE REVIEW: Habibti Driver - The Octagon Theatre, Bolton.

What happens when a well-established and quasi-westernised Egyptian Muslim family living in Wigan find themselves constantly having to question and compromise their faith and traditions with those of the country they are now living in? What happens when a somewhat lax middle-aged Muslim man marries a feisty English girl, have a child, the child grows up, he divorces the wife and travels back to Egypt to remarry in an arranged Muslim ceremony, whilst she becomes engaged to a local Wigan lad who is just about as far away from her Muslim heritage as it is possible to get? What happens when this same man's more traditional and more religious brother finds out? What happens when his new wife comes over to Wigan full of Asian promise and can't speak much English? Will their differences ever be reconciled? 

'Habibti Driver' is a new play by Shamia Chalabi and Sarah Henley which tries to show, through gentle comedy, that there are many divides between the two communities, which sometimes go beyond either culture or religion, but can, with love and understanding, be breached and obstacles overcome. 

Ashraf (Dana Haqjoo) is our taxi-driving protagonist. He is described in the programme as Egypt's answer to Del-Boy, and that isn't too far wrong. However, Ashraf has a conscience, and is shown as a flawed and totally relatable human being. Torn between family, tradition, Muslim community etc, and his own thoughts, feelings, and ultimately his love (and respect) for his daughter, his ex-wife, and interestingly even his current wife (who has a significant role to play in his life). His brother, Yusuf (Hemi Yeroham) owns the taxi firm, and he sees himself as not just his brother's boss, but his brother's moral and religious guide too. His daughter, Shazia (Shamia Chalabi), is more Wigan than Egypt, although her Muslim side does play a significant part in her life, whether she cares to admit that openly or not. This causes both humour and friction with her fiance, Chris, (Timothy O'Hara), who is your typical Wigan lad, who loves nowt better than a pie and a pint! Chris's heart is definitely in the right place, even if his mouth isn't always! Ashraf's ex-wife, Jean (Helen Sheals), is practical and pragmatic; down-to-earth, and just wants the best for all. Does she still hold a candle for Ashraf? Whilst Yasmin (Houda Echouafni), Ashraf's current wife is the crux of the whole situation; appearing to be the stereotypical good Muslim wife at first, she uses her feminine wiles and intuition to turn the whole situation round to everyone's satisfaction. "Yasmin is just as crazy as the rest of us". It is through both Yasmin and his daughter, that Ashraf comes to understand his past mistakes, and that he was "listening to and following the wrong people".

It's a very gentle comedy, with undulating dynamics rather than troughs and peaks; and would work nicely as  a TV sitcom. As a play, it just travels along on a country road in 3rd gear and we enjoy the scenery as it does so. Hugely predictable, and reliant on stock characters and stereotypes in order to make the play work; as well as some rather obvious and trite humour. Although hidden in the melee are some real gems; such as "In England, the pub is like the mosque".

Directed by Sepy Baghaei, there are moments of genius mixed with the more mediocre. Some very heart-felt and underplayed short scenes, which are juxtaposed with quasi-drama and traditional Egyptian music and dancing. But it did feel a little too long, as we already knew how it would end and there were no surprises along the way. The constant moving of car chairs between each scene was irritating and time-consuming, and some of the configurations simply didn't work. 

The play succinctly highlights some of the difficulties faced when two so very opposite communities come together, and offers solutions by way of compromise, love, respect, and understanding. It's a sincere comedy for a contemporary Britain with contemporary British Muslims with a feel-good happy end. 

Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 25.4.22