by Christina Fonthes 

THE CROWS PLUCKED YOUR SINEWS is a one woman play “about Somalis in Britain and Britain in Somalia”. The piece – written and directed by Hassan Mahamdallie with the assistance of Jamil Dhillon – explores colonialism and empire, politics, and ‘culture and tradition’ through the eyes of young British-Somali – Suuban – played by Manchester-based actress Yusra Warsama.

The hypnotic performance begins at the burial of Suuban’s alzheimer-stricken grandmother. From the opening scene we are immersed in a time-warped journey through a desolate war-engaged Somalia, and a grimy modern-day South London. A plethora of themes are explored in the hour-long performance; we meet Suuban’s great-grandmother a great fearless woman warrior. We discover the letters from the mother of the dead English Tommy warning her young son of the “men in the bushes”.

We are inundated with the names and titles of Somali scholars living…