Muslim brothel play to be staged

Members of the Sikh community protested at the theatre last year

A theatre, which dropped a play after violent protests by Sikhs there last year, has confirmed it is to stage a drama about a fictional Muslim brothel.

The Birmingham Rep said Bells is set in a property which is a butcher's shop by day and a brothel by night.

It says it has not had any complaints about Yasmin Whittaker Khan's play, which is due to open on Wednesday.

The theatre cancelled Behzti, which featured sexual abuse and murder inside a Sikh gurdwara, last December.

New generation

Demonstrators outside the theatre smashed windows and threatened further violence in protest at Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti's play. Bells reportedly features Islamic girls being forced into prostitution.

The promotional literature for the play states: "Bells takes us into the seedy world of Mujra (courtesan) clubs, a centuries old tradition in Pakistan which is now growing in Britain.

"A butcher's shop by day and a brothel by night, Bells has all the sparkle of Lollywood (the Pakistani film industry).

"But the glitz and glamour is tarnished by the pain and degradation of secret lives.

"Is love possible in a place where flesh is bought and sold?"

The theatre said it was committed to supporting a new generation of playwrights from different backgrounds.