‘It feels like the play is coming home’: The creatives behind Peanut Butter & Blueberries on arriving in Leeds

After captivating audiences and selling out its premiere run at London’s Kiln Theatre, Peanut Butter & Blueberries is heading to West Yorkshire for its highly anticipated homecoming at Leeds Playhouse this month.

Written by Leeds poet and former Roundhay School pupil Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan, the production offers a witty, refreshing, and authentic portrait of young British Muslim love - stripping away tabloid tropes and social media relationship rules to focus on a tender university romance.

Directed by former Leeds Playhouse Associate Director Sameena Hussain, the play follows Hafsah, a studious aspiring writer from Bradford, and Bilal, a charming student from Birmingham, navigating a complex home life.

A central pillar of Sameena’s directorial approach was ensuring the rehearsal room provided a "safe and brave space" for the cast and creative team - a process where she admits her passion truly came alive.

"Often, especially with stories like this because they are so rare, a lot of our institutions don't allow those of us who are from marginalised identities to turn up with that—we can't bring our full selves to it," Sameena explains to the Yorkshire Evening Post. "There’s an expectation or invitation, but the environment isn't always safe.

“For me, it was about not making assumptions about my colleagues in the room, and ensuring systems and structures were set up - from breakout spaces to open conversations."

Working alongside a team of British Muslim creatives, Sameena emphasised that the space was built not just to navigate complex lived realities, but to celebrate culture, lightness, and joy.

"It’s not often you're in a room full of five or six British Muslim creatives," Sameena adds. "We don't always want to talk about the harmful, dark spaces - it's also about celebrating the joy, the brilliance, and getting to play.

“As a director, you are setting the tone: really valuing rest, and valuing not getting it immediately, because a creative process needs time."

Sameena continues: "I aspire to have a safe space, but I'm aware that's not always entirely possible. Having that aspiration and being really rigorous and bold in opening that dialogue

“That practice is constantly evolving."

‘It feels to me that the play is coming home’

For Suhaiymah, bringing the show to Leeds Playhouse represents a full-circle moment in her artistic career.

"It feels to me that the play is coming home," says Suhaiymah. "The first theatre I ever saw was in Leeds, and it was also where I had my first residency - at the Playhouse. A northern audience will understand this play in a different way to London audiences.

“I am so grateful for the sell-out success we had at Kiln Theatre, but I do think there are certain jokes, moments and dialogue that will land in a really special way up here."

The inspiration for the play stemmed from a straightforward question: creating characters and stories she had never seen reflected on mainstream stages.

"I wanted to see Muslim characters who liked being Muslim," Suhaiymah explains. "Islam would not be the 'obstacle to overcome' or the 'drama' of the play. It would be part and parcel of their world. As much as I love a bit of social commentary, I am a romantic at heart, and the story I really wanted to see was a love story where both characters are Muslim.

“Simply the highs, lows, woes and wobbles of having a university crush."

Set against the backdrop of university life in London, the connection between Hafsah and Bilal relies heavily on their shared 'non-Southernness' and razor-sharp regional wit.

"What connects them is not necessarily their Muslim identities or Pakistani heritage; it’s their non-Southernness in London," Suhaiymah notes. "For me, it’s Hafsah’s northern banter and Bilal’s Brummie charm that actually bring the two together despite themselves."

Sameena agrees that the regional cadence gives the play its beating heart.

"It took me a while to realise that their non-Southernness was key," Sameena says. "There's a certain humour in the way we connect and communicate in this part of the country; we have a different rhythm and a different quality that is just quite Northern.

“Regardless of heritage or class, there's a certain Northern grit that’s always so present."

Redefining romance on the stage

Unlike conventional Eurocentric stage romances, Peanut Butter & Blueberries explores deep emotional intimacy and romance without physical touch, reflecting the ethical frameworks of practising young Muslims.

"The characters at the heart of our beautiful story are the light in a very dark world," says Hussain. "How do we show intimacy and romance without physical touch? For me - and for millions of other people—it’s not a wild concept at all. It's not about proving to anyone that love can happen in this way. It just does."

With its rich local references and authentic voice, Hussain hopes the production will take its permanent place in the region's cultural lineage.

"To have this piece in the Northern canon would be a very satisfying way of showing who we truly are as a region," Sameena reflects.

Peanut Butter and Blueberries plays at the Leeds Playhouse from October 22 to November 7. For more information and tickets, visit the official Leeds Playhouse website.