Play Synopsis

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“I want him to fear walking in the streets as I have”

Hana is a young illustrator from Cairo, who is creating a series of images that document her experiences of sexual harassment. These images are forming a graphic novel depicting the adventures of her imaginary heroine, the Niqabi Ninja, but her heroine seems all too real. Combining testimony with humorous fiction, Niqabi Ninja captures the anger, the frustration, the absurdity and the danger every young woman must learn to live with, whether it’s walking down the street, going out to have some fun or going to a demonstration. Originally written in reaction to the mob sexual assaults in Tahrir Square, which took place between 2012 and 2014 in Cairo, Niqabi Ninja is a revenge fantasy - an origin story of one young woman’s transformation into a Cairene vigilante, and the journey through rape culture that brought her to this point.