THEATRE: 'Jihad - The Musical' a satire about the serious

Last night I was at the Jermyn Street theatre to watch 'Jihad -The Musical', a musical satire about the War on Terror which follows the life of Sayid, a Jalalabad flower-seller and his experiences in the West. Sayid dreams of being the best flower-seller in the world and with the help of a passionate American news correspondent, ends up in the West. However, on arrival, whilst the journalist is looking the perfect terrorist story, Sayid is approached by a local terrorist group. Soon, the dream of flower-selling and making his sister proud is a distant memory, or is it?

The musical was condemned for 'a tasteless portrayal of terrorism' after its debut at the Edinburgh Festival in 2007 but now, on its return to the stage, I was given a chance to see what the fuss was all about. So, what do I think? I think it's great. The production knew exactly what they wanted and they pretty much delivered perfectly. There are certain hard-hitting messages about global politics and general messages of love, peace and tolerance. Aside from that, it's all a massive song and dance about issues which we sometimes perhaps take too seriously. Is it mocking Islam? No. Is it a tasteless portrayal of terrorism? No. Is it mocking extremism and terrorism? Yes and rightly so. The musical tells the story of a man and his struggle (an inner-jihad) to make his sister proud. It is playing around with serious issues and cultural stereotypes (i.e the French/Arabic) but in a very light and delicate manner which shouldn't offend anyone. Some of the songs like “Building a Bomb Today” and “I Wanna Be Like Osama” (watch HERE) may sound controversial but in the context of the musical are pretty funny. It's 1.hour 20.minutes long and whilst it's not the best theatre production you will ever see, it provides enough comedy and entertainment value for a quality evening of London theatre.

Final Comment: 7/10 - A well produced musical with light and effective humour about serious and contemporary issues. Song and dance + a good laugh = I'm happy.

Jihad- The Musical is running at the Jermyn Street Theatre in London until 6th February 2010. Tickets (if any are available) can be purchased from http://www.jihadthemusical.co.uk/.