“Your life is the only opportunity that life can give you.
If you ignore it, if you waste it, You will only turn to dust.”-Rabia al Basri, mystic
Sweet Cider (2008)
By Em Hussain
A community is in crisis. Two Pakistani girls have run from their families: one is hunted, the other forgotten.
Their bid for freedom has led them to an Asian women's refuge in a nearby northern town. But with dialogue between the generations impossible, the girls soon ask themselves how sweet freedom really is.
A poignant story of fractured family ties, Sweet Cider is the debut play by Em Hussain. The play was commissioned by Tamasha following Em's outstanding work their New Writing course.
Credits
Director Kristine Landon-Smith
Designer Sue Mayes
Lighting Design Natasha Chivers
Sound Design Mike Furness
Dramaturg Philip Osment
Cast
Shammi Aulakh
Sudha Bhuchar
Taru Devani
Hamza Jeetooa
Tom Morrison
Aria Prasad
Sagar Radia
Rehan Sheikh
Rajneet Sidhu
Stephanie Street
What People Are Saying
"Tamasha means commotion or creating a stir, and Sweet Cider does just that. The fact that this is author Emteaz Hussain’s dramatic debut is even more stirring as it displays remarkable maturity and lyrical grace." What's On Stage
"the kaleidoscopic display of fractured Asian lives forms a potent, urgent, unsentimental brew, spiked with high poetry and the unmistakable sting of the real…Hussain’s central story lands its punch with heart-rending accuracy." Metro
"Stephanie Street is revelatory as a young girl burdened by the false promise of freedom. Her eventual breakdown provides a shocking end to an assured debut." Time Out
"Hussain has made a stong, involving debut, directed with assurance by Kristine Landon-Smith and finely performed by the cast" The Stage
"Hussain's ability to inject comedy into these troubled and haunted lives determines her position as a playwright to watch" Asians in Media
