Review: Peanut Butter and Blueberries (Kiln Theatre)

Review by Beth Bowden

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Completing Indhu Rubasignham’s last programming season at the Kiln Theatre is Peanut Butter and Blueberries - a gorgeous 85 minute production charting the love story of Bilal (Usaamah Ibraheem Hussain) and Hufsah (Humera Syed). 

A window into the all-consuming rush of first love, Peanut Butter begins when the pair meet at The University of London’s SOAS - and bond over hot chocolate, peanut butter and blueberry sandwiches (which I will now have to go away and try). It is easy to root for their love story. Bilal and Hufsah click immediately - and are both smart, political, joyful and creative young people. They are guided by faith and by friendship, Hufsah wants to write her novella, and Bilal wants to learn Pahari…. and they are (as many people do in their twenties) questioning who they are, where they come from and what they want their life to look like. 

It’s a production full of quiet intimacy - filled with hearts pounding, wry smiles and lingering eye contact. In this way, it’s cleverly constructed, because Bilal and Hufsah are both Muslim, and so never actually touch - all of their connection is built through words, sharing thoughts, passing books tenderly between them. The stage, created by Designer Khadija Raja moves in circles, and mirrors their developing love - carrying them both together, apart, and in unison. The stage, creatively I think, represents the invisible string between them. 

It’s also really funny. Both characters address the audience throughout, with us immediately initiated as their confidants and friends. I immediately like this theatrical device, written into the script by writer Suhaiymah Mazoor-Khan, because it invites us to be a part of their story. It gives a kind of Shakespeare or Fleabag-esque, look to the camera, soliloquy, let us in on the secret kind of moment… Comedy is also where actors Usaamah and Humera really shine - confident in their connection with the audience, and thoughtful, teasing and loving in their connection with each other. They play effortlessly on the comedic awkwardness of desire, and the silly half-thought things that escape your mouth when you really like someone. 

The play also touches on the everyday, overt and pervasive effects of Islamophobia and structural racism in the UK. These stories are not the whole focus of the work, but instead form a part of the context within which Bilal and Hufsah love and live, both separately, and together. Peanut Butter also explores the excuses we make not to be with someone - or more interestingly, the responsibilities, choices and contexts that pull you into different pathways or different futures. Described in the press release as ‘how to love when the weight of the world is on your shoulders, Peanut Butter and Blueberries could not be more timely for the UK and its socio-political climate: at the moment we must look to cultivate community, light and small acts of love. This show does that. 

This is Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan’s debut play - adding to her incredible work already as a poet, author and educator - and I can’t wait to see what she does next. There are points at which the plot becomes a bit muddled, but I laughed hard, leant in and loved learning about Bilal and Hufsah’s lives and love story. 

Peanut Butter and Blueberries runs until the 31 August at the Kiln Theatre. 

As part of the work, the Kiln have also programmed Alcohol Free Performances, offer a dedicated prayer space onsite, and the performance finishes before 8:30pm for those who need to pray the sunset prayer. 

For tickets and information visit https://kilntheatre.com/whats-on/peanut-butter-blueberries/ 

Photos by Oluwatosin Daniju