Dugsi Dayz review – young Muslim answer to The Breakfast Club fizzles out

Royal Court, London
Four south London girls tell stories during detention at a mosque in Sabrina Ali’s play, which ends before we know much about them

Four British Somali girls are thrown together in detention at a south London mosque, having erred in “dugsi” (Islamic school). Sabrina Ali’s play is inspired by the high-schoolers in John Hughes’s The Breakfast Club. Like them, these girls, all chalk and cheese, have no choice but to engage with each other, especially when their teacher goes Awol.

Ali also plays Munira, a mischief maker, while Yasmin (Faduma Issa) wears a hot-pink jacket and talks about a friend’s bridal shower, and Salma (Susu Ahmed), a teachers’ pet, won’t reveal why she has been sent to detention with them. The mysterious Hani (Hadsan Mohamud) sits slightly apart, giving the other girls the side-eye, her reason for being there unexplained.

Dugsi Dayz runs at the Royal Court, London, until 18 May.