As seen in the image above, mist filters also add a soft glow around light. Mist filters, generally speaking, will make highlights seem less pronounced, make shadows a little less rich, and overall lower the contrast of the scene. There are also strange dreamlike sequences – like a dance rendition of ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ which break up the narrative but don’t feel fully integrated into the play. As with most decisions in the world of photography, it comes down to creative choices and personal preference. Sudden rough-edged moments of didacticism slip in, all the more jarring set against the easy realism of the shisha scenes. We get snatches of Jihad narrating his documentary, educating his audience about these lounges and their value, allowing the play to do precisely the same thing.

So many great lines whizz by in the back-and-forth of Dada’s dialogue, but amid this sitcom setup a more dramatic plot starts to emerge: Jihad gets a gig making a documentary about shisha lounges and has to decide how much to stick to his principles and how much to turn against his community. Three best friends get together regularly to let it all out: aspiring journalist Jihad (Omar Bynon), gym fiend Rashid (Arian Nik) and the slightly daft, ridiculously endearing Sif (a wonderful Salman Akhtar). Food hasn’t been served since 2018 when the head chef ‘got poached by Chicken Cottage’.

Malist review