Theatre503 presents
Zara has spent her adult life being two different people. The good Muslim daughter, all set to marry the man her family approve of and a free-spirited British millennial, who parties as hard as she works. Over one dramatic weekend, the lies she’s been telling to keep these two worlds apart begin to unravel and she is forced to confront her real identity.
Out of Sorts was the winner of the International Playwriting Award 2018, selected out of 2,055 scripts sent in from 49 countries. After several rounds of reading Danusia’s play was chosen by an industry panel chaired by 503’s Chair and Deputy Artistic Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Erica Whyman. The panel included journalist Lyn Gardner; Audible’s Commissioning Producer for Theatre Abigail Gonda; playwrights Stephen Beresford, Alice Birch, Chinonyerem Odimba and Roy Williams.
TAILORED PERFORMANCES: 23 October 12noon, Parent and Baby; 23 October 7.30pm, Relaxed & Captioned
PARENT & BABY: Similar to our Relaxed Performance in terms of technical alterations, but provided as an opportunity for parents and/or guardians to enjoy a spot of theatre without the need to hire a babysitter. Please note, we do not exclude other audience members from booking to see this performance.
RELAXED: For anyone who benefits from a more relaxed performance environment. House lights are left up with audience free to exit and reenter as required. Sound levels are reduced and any strobe / ‘flashing light’ effects will be omitted also.
CAPTIONED: We’re offering captioning to mobile phones via the Difference Engine app, from Talking Birds. Download the free app from the App Store or Google Play, or find more info via the Difference Engine website.
(Trailer filmed and created by Ben Hewis)
Running Time: 1 hour 50 minutes, including interval.
Danusia Samal
Danusia Samal is an actress, writer and singer from London who spent part of her childhood in the Middle East. She has various stage credits at the Royal Court, RSC, Globe Theatre, SOHO, Sheffield Crucible and Royal Exchange. Her screen credits include 'The Great' (Hulu), 'Ghost in the Shell' (Paramount/DreamWorks), and 'Tyrant' (FOX). In 2018, Danusia wrote and performed 'Busking It', a gig theatre piece inspired by her experiences as a London Underground busker. 'Busking It' was commissioned by Shoreditch Town Hall and co-produced by HighTide Theatre and toured to critical acclaim. Since then, Danusia has gone on to win the Theatre503 International Playwriting Award for her play 'Out of Sorts'. Danusia is currently one of 13 writers on the BBC’s prestigious TV Drama Writer Programme. She is an alumnus of BBC London Voices, Tamasha Playwrights and SOHO Writer’s Lab. Other writing credits include 'The Museum' (Tamasha Theatre/ SOAS University); 'Conditionally' (SOHO/Oxford School of Drama); 'Langthorne Stories' (Soho Theatre/Waltham Forest); and 'Las Americas Above' (Chaskis Theatre). Danusia also works as a drama facilitator with a community groups. She is passionate about writing a wide range of voices and telling unknown stories.
The script is careful to present the complex and differing ways in which prejudice is experienced for different people depending on skin colour, nationality and even class in a way that I have not previously experienced onstage.
The best thing I can suggest is to see this poignant and stirring show for yourself.
Theatre in one of its truest forms, Out Of Sorts deserves a life after this run, and needs to be given the chance to be experienced by as many people as possible.
This layered, nuanced piece of writing is worthy of the 2018 Theatre503 International Playwriting Award. Danusia Samal’s play presents a happy façade but conceals a powerful void at its core.
"Oznur Cifci as Fatima, and Myriam Acharki as Zara’s gentle mother, Layla, are spellbinding to watch"
Winner of Theatre503’s International Award, Out of Sorts is a compassionate, generous and well observed piece of writing that accurately captures all the small tug-of-wars that occur over religion, language and food.
Danusia Samal’s Out of Sorts is a play that creates a growing sense of engagement with the characters and story as the story progresses and leaves you with vivid memories for reflection.
The performances are all powerful, sympathetic and nuanced
Out of Sorts is a wonderfully bittersweet tale of clashing cultures, identities, and class.
Samal is loving, perceptive, and precise in her championing of people from two cultures who feel like they don’t belong to either. It’s important now more than ever to centre stories like Zara’s. Don’t miss this hugely enjoyable, eye-opening show.
Danusia Samal's play won the International Playwriting Award 2018 and you can see why.
Truly moving, and surprisingly tender
“While judging so many plays must be hard, it’s easy to see why the panel chose this one.”
