The Chosen Haram, which was a huge hit at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, heads to Scarborough’s Stephen Joseph Theatre later this month.
The Chosen Haram was the show everyone was talking about at the 2022 festival, receiving awards, five-star reviews and selling out every night. It can be seen at the North Yorkshire theatre on Friday 28 April.
The Chosen Haram tells the story of two gay men, their chance meeting through a dating app, the highs and lows of their relationship and the barriers they must overcome, both social and cultural, in seeking happiness and personal fulfillment.
A heady mix of love, drugs and Islam, this unique and complex take on circus, performed on two Chinese Poles, is emotionally candid and heart-warming, with moments of humour and joy. The story unfolds with gravity-defying tricks and extraordinary movement.
The show deals with themes around sexuality, chemsex, faith, addiction and connection – an exploration into the personal struggles faced by many people whose upbringing contradicts their personal truths, and how this can lead to self-destructive behaviour. It is based on a combination of Ali’s personal experience, as well as interviews with members of the LGBTQ+ community who identify as (ex) Muslim.
The Chosen Haram debuted by opening the MANIPULATE Festival Edinburgh 2022 before transferring to a critically acclaimed run at the London International Mime Festival and last year completed a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Sadiq Ali is a mixed heritage, queer, circus artist and performance maker who graduated from London’s National Centre for Circus Arts. He has created and worked with contemporary circus companies like Ockhams Razor and Upswing Circus and has been devising his own full-length works, the first of which was The Chosen Haram. The show has enabled him to explore his experience of sexuality and faith applying that to a contemporary circus art form, to successfully create a queer, intersectional narrative within a field that seldom sees such stories on stage.
Sadiq also regularly performs on the international cabaret, variety and burlesque circuits where he combines a joyous love for comedy, body expression and representation. He has also worked as an avid HIV campaigner on a number of campaigns with organisations like the Terrence Higgins Trust and GMFA after being diagnosed with HIV when he was 24 and realising that the training and performance world he was becoming a part of was a tool he could use to de-stigmatise issues around HIV and HIV prevention (PrEP). Because of his HIV campaign work Sadiq represented the UK in Malta at Mr Gay World.
The Chosen Haram can be seen at the SJT at 7.30pm on Friday 28 April. Tickets, priced from £10, are available from the box office on 01723 370541 and online at www.sjt.uk.com
