“He grew up to be a man whose sighs and slumps replaced sentences. Is that gonna be me?”
Days after his father’s passing, English teacher Yusuf discovers a dusty mixtape that changes everything he knew about a man who barely spoke.
Turns out, Mustafa spent the 90s rapping about pretty girls and Kilburn life, plotting dreams of superstardom with his best friend Omar. How did this passionate wordsmith become a silent statue?
Yusuf’s mourning is overtaken by a journey into the past. Threaded together by Omar’s thumping beats and his father’s bars, Yusuf uncovers secrets that turn his world upside-down.
Witty, honest, and deeply moving, Statues is a lyrical love letter to the original code switchers, exploring the impact of loss, and what you can gain from it. Written and performed by award-winning playwright Azan Ahmed (Deen & Dunya, The Father and the Assassin).
Looking for show information and content guidance?
Statues Self-Care Guide and Content Warnings
09 October - 09 NovemberFrom £15
16, 23, 30 October and 6 NovemberFrom £15
19, 26 October and 2, 9 NovemberFrom £15
Our ticket prices increase with demand, so book early to guarantee seats at the best price. Click here to find out more.
From £15.
Join as a member, book a season ticket or bring a group. Find out more at bushtheatre.co.uk/save.
14+
See the Self-Care Guide and Content Warnings for more information.
Saturday 19th October at 3pm & 8pm
Wednesday 23rd October at 3pm & 8pm
Wednesday 30th October at 3pm & 8pm
Wednesday 30th October at 2pm & 7pm
How to get here, opening times, offers and concessions, and how to hire one of our wonderful spaces.
Donate to help us develop emerging artists, bring new voices to the stage and support our community.
Azan Ahmed is an award-winning actor, poet & playwright.
As an actor, recent credits include: 10 Nights (Omnibus & tour); Van der Valk (ITV); The Father and the Assassin (National); Count Abdulla (ITVX) and The Tempest (Globe).
His debut play Daytime Deewane (Half Moon & tour) won the 2023 Offie Award for Best Writing. He is currently being mentored by Roy Williams on the Hampstead Theatre INSPIRE cohort. Azan is an alumnus of Apples and Snakes Writing Room, Almeida Young Company & Bush Young Company. He also produces Deen & Dunya.
Esme Allman is a director, theatre-maker, facilitator and poet from South London. She built her theatre practice in a participatory context at the Young Vic, Clean Break and Cardboard Citizens. She directed the R&D of Statues by Azan Ahmed (Pit Theatre, Barbican) as part of Barbican Open Labs (2022). She also directed To The People by John Dinneen and Alex Urwin (April 2022). She has been an assistant director for OUT by Ray Young (touring Spring 2024), Cinderella by Danusia Samal (Brixton House, December 2023), Alice in Wonderland (RADA Vanbrugh Theatre, August 2023) and Run It Back (Talawa Theatre and Hackney Showroom 2018). Previous theatres and creative organisations she has worked with include Arts Ed, the Barbican Centre, Brixton House, Fevered Sleep, Hammersmith Lyric Theatre, Kings Theatre, Royal Stratford East, Sydenham Arts, and the Robert Bosch Foundation in Berlin.
Two Magpies Productions specialises in Muslim storytelling and creating opportunities for underrepresented communities in the arts. We champion creative practitioners who identify as Muslim, and produce bold and engaging stories that showcase the unlimited range and breadth of what it is to be Muslim. Our radical values are at the heart of everything we do, and we believe culture is one part of achieving revolutionary change in a society that is structurally anti-Muslim.
