Dugsi Dayz - Royal Court

Saw today's matinee, and LOVED it.

It is "The Breakfast Club" crossed with "The Weir" where the 4 protagonists are Somali Girls in detention.

Some spoilers follow. . .

You can register the basic character types of 3 of the girls, in detention in this Muslim school, immediately.

The monosyllabic one with the eye shadow, Hani (Hadsan Mohamud) is the Goth, the strict shouty one with the glasses and extra robes, a sort of teenage Muslim Sarah Brown, Salma (Susu Ahmed), is the Conformist Goody Two Shoes and the one with her hair showing and the big gold earrings, Yasmin (Faduma Issa) is the Western Rebel.

The other one, blank, mischievous, dyslexic, Munira, is much more nuanced, less definable, which makes sense when you realise she's played by the author, Sabrina Ali lol!

Anyhow, one character actually says "This isn't the Breakfast Club," which is a funny clever way of admitting this IS "The Breakfast Club." And when you get 4 different types mocking each other in a trapped environment, playing on their character differences, the clash of personalities formula is just perennially funny.

And it is all the more funny for the lives and expectations of the characters being so specifically, authentically and clearly conveyed.

Like in Conor McPherson's "The Weir," telling each other (ghost) stories is a key way for the characters to establish their own personas, and to dig into each others' postured personas, and the effect is primarily funny, but also poignant, and inadvertently educational, as well, for someone like me who doesn't know many religious Somali Girls lol.

The Guys and Dolls Sarah Brown dynamic of Susu Ahmed's forceful religious character badgering the others while simultaneously being seduced by their preoccupations is brilliantly realised by Ahmed, who gets the most laughs.

Hadsan Mohamud's mysterious Goth character keeps the intrigue up for the duration and ultimately earns the most feels.

This is a successful, specific, intriguing, funny rendition of a tried and tested entertainment formula, and just as John Hughes hit the bullseye with his movie, so does this play.

4 stars from me.