Writing

Here you can see a selection of previous writing

Loot - Royal Court

“A major exhibition celebrating Clive of India is being planned. A motley crew of anarchists known as the ‘Loot Crew’ are planning a heist of the infamous ‘Clive Collection’ held in Powis Castle. Will they get away with it? Or will the undercover police officer and faux activist, PC Janus Jones rumble their entire operation?”

Loot is a 30 minute play developed over a 6-months with the Royal Court's SW1 programme working with student actors from local schools in Westminster. The play was performed in March 2022 on the Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Downstairs.

Directed by Jessica Kennedy. Dramaturgy by Ellie Horne, Jessica Kennedy and Ellie Fulcher. Huge thank you to the whole Royal Court's Open Court team, Romana Flello and Associate Director Hamish Pirie.

PLAYWRITING

Zidane of the Ends - High Tide Theatre

“Zidane of the Ends follows the journey of 19 year old, Adam El Djezairi, a former academy prospect offered one last chance to 'make it' with non-league football outfit, South Quay FC. If he shines, the scouts could come calling again. One last chance to escape the ends. One last chance to prove everyone wrong.”

A play developed through High Tide Theatre’s School of High Tide scheme in October 2020 - June 2021. The play involved real testimonies of former academy footballers and coaches. A full length reading was performed at High Tide’s Inventing the Future Festival at The New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich in October 2021 with Jonny Khan playing Aadam and Shala Nyx playing Malikah.

Directed by Suba Das and Milli Bhatia with Ashen Gupta as assistant director.

Emily (GLITCHED) In Paris - Royal Court

Part of the Royal Court’s weekly Living Newspaper series which featured a range of short plays. My piece, Emily (Glitched) In Paris was commissioned in Edition 3 alongside Travis Alabanza, Gurpreet Kaur Bhatti, Nick Bruckman, Anupama Chandrasekhar, Josh Elliott, Rabiah Hussain, Sami Ibrahim. The play was performed by Scott Karim (Samir) and Lucy Mangan (Emily).

Directed by Milli Bhatia with Jade Lewis as assistant director. Filmed by Tea films.

“A stand-out play is Zain Dada’s Emily (Glitched) in Paris, an arresting critique of French colonialism through a conversation between Emily, a white tourist, and her waiter, Samir.” - Johnny Wright of Writers Mosaic.

Reviewed by the Writers Mosaic here.

Emily (Glitched) In Paris also featured in Royal Court’s weekly digital zine which you can access here.

Manfred - Tamasha Theatre

A new play written as part of Tamasha playwrights group facilitated by Iman Qureshi and Satinder Chohan.

An excerpt of the play will be performed in October 2022.

Sultana

“Sultana is a story about young migrant women working in the (fictional) Royal Kingdom of Meshan in the palaces of the Royals family. In this short comic, Sultana is caught up in a constitutional crisis as the King of Meshan is dying with no heir.”

Sultana is a short comic written by Zain Dada and illustrated by award-winning comic artist and writer, Shazleen Khan.

A six page excerpt of Sultana can be read here.

Reviewed by Broken Frontiers here.

COMICS

The Adventures of Iddy Ali

“Iddy Ali is like any average teenager. Except he isn't. Plagued by the stereotypes which define him, hyper-masculine cousins and the racist dickheads in the area, Iddy is struggling. Until one day, a mysterious figure offers him some magic almonds which alters the course of his life forever.”

The Adventures of Iddy Ali is a mini-comic written by Zain Dada and illustrated by Kumail Rizvi.

Building Economies for Community Arts: Sustainability and Cultural Capability.

This research was funded by the Churchill Fellowship in 2019 and looked at case studies of culture and community organisation’s in the United States with a specific focus on their business and governance models. The purpose of the research was to provide tangible examples of how grassroots arts organisations in New York, Oakland, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco survive in the face rising land value, rising rents and existential threats by the way of regeneration are causing spaces and organisations to disappear.

I shared the research with the Greater London Authority’s Culture at Risk team in 2021 and subsequently began working at City Hall as a Culture & Community Spaces at Risk Officer.

Read more about the Culture and Community Spaces at Risk office here.

Read the research here.

An article and overview of the research featured in the Arts Professional.

Read an interview about the research alongside broader themes on the community arts ecology by art critics, the White Pube here.

RESEARCH

Goldsmiths University

MA in Creative Writing & Education (2017-18)

I completed my Masters at Goldsmiths University in 2021, funded by the Aziz Foundation for ‘Developing Arts Management Professionals and Artists from British Muslim Communities.’ I achieved a merit overall.