17th June - 30th July
Produced by Boundless Theatre in association with Tamasha.
“A good journalist doesn’t always play friendly – in fact, they mostly don’t”
Chunkyz Shisha Lounge is home away from home for Jihad, Rashid and Asif, a space where community whispers are heard, jokes are shared, and new hustles are born.
When aspiring journalist Jihad wins the chance to make his own documentary, he sets out to give voice to his community and challenge the usual stereotypes that fill the airwaves. But in a media landscape that profits off fear, how far can one voice really go?
Olivier Award-nominated Blue Mist is a sharp, darkly funny story about truth, trust and ambition. Written by Mohamed-Zain Dada (Dizzy, Speed), directed by Milli Bhatia (Speed, seven methods of killing kylie jenner).
Blue Mist originated at Royal Court Theatre, London.
Supported by Arts Council England and The Aziz Foundation.
Mohamed-Zain Dada, goes by the name Zain, is a playwright and screenwriter. His first writing credit, Emily (Glitched) In Paris was for the Royal Court Theatre’s Living Newspaper series in March 2021. He is an alumnus of BBC Drama Room’s 2022-23 cohort and NFTS x Left Bank Pictures inaugural Diverse Writer’s Room Programme 2024. Zain’s debut play, Blue Mist premiered at the Jerwood Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre in October 2023 to 4 and 5 star reviews and was nominated for an Olivier Award. His second play, Dizzy premiered at the Sheffield Playhouse (co-produced by Theatre Centre), and his third play, SPEED (2025), was one of the best-selling main house shows at The Bush Theatre of the past 3 years.
Milli is an award winning stage and screen director, and dramaturg from East London.
She is an Associate Artist at Synergy, Creative Advisor at Brixton House and panellist for The Women’s Prize for Playwriting. She was Associate Director at The Royal Court Theatre until December 2023.
Before this, she was Trainee Director and then Literary Associate at The Royal Court, Associate Artist at The Bush Theatre, Resident Assistant Director at Birmingham Rep and Creative Associate at The Gate Theatre.
She is a two-time Olivier Award nominee, for her productions of seven methods of killing kylie jenner and Blue Mist, both premiered at The Royal Court Theatre. Her other work has been nominated for Visionary Arts Awards, Off West End Awards, EE Actas and Asian Media Awards, and her work has both received West End and international transfers.
Collaboration and conversations lie at the heart of Tomás’ process and their work spans both unusual and conventional spaces.
Tomás was a 2021 Linbury Prize for stage design award winners and was the production designer on the Scottish BAFTA and BIFA Award winning short film Too Rough in 2022.
They trained at The Glasgow School of Art and recently completed an MA at The Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Taking the ecological crisis seriously and finding the most sustainable way to produce their designs is a large part of Tomás’ process.