Sabrina Ali

Sabrina Ali is a talented British-Somali writer and actor from South West London with a particular passion for creating comedic narratives. Sabrina’s love for comedy began in secondary school, where she discovered her natural knack for making people laugh with her stories and witty observations. It was whilst studying Theatre Studies at college that she decided to pursue her dream and aim at a career as a writer and actor.

Sabrina then went on to complete a Law degree at university, but all the while she couldn’t ignore her desire to perform and share stories. In 2021, the perfect opportunity to bring one of her ideas to life on stage arose. The newly formed Side eYe collective approached her to write a one woman play as part of the annual London Somali Week Festival. This was a daunting new challenge, but her close friend, Hafsa, encouraged her to explore the world of stand-up comedy. This sparked the creation of Muna Knows It All, which Sabrina not only wrote, but also co-directed and starred in. The play follows the horrified protagonist as she attempts to uncover who was responsible for a wedding dress calamity at her friend’s wedding. The performances sold out and audiences praised the show, despite the fact that it was entirely created in under a month. This experience reminded Sabrina of her love of performing on stage and also armed her with a newfound understanding of and confidence in what it is to write comedy for stage.

After the success of Muna Knows It All, Sabrina wanted to dive deeper into the stories of British-Somalis. This led her to work with Side eYe again the following year, creating Dugsi Dayz, a new comedy / comingof- age story inspired by The Breakfast Club. Sabrina was drawn to her memories of the colourful experiences at Dugsi growing up, and following numerous nostalgic conversations with friends, she couldn’t wait to explore the unique personalities of the girls she encountered during her time there. It was important to Sabrina that each of the girls in the play should be exposed to characters unlike themselves, who may think and act differently than they do themselves. A detention seemed like the perfect container for this idea. Sabrina’s hope is that the audience, like the characters in the play, are encouraged to think more widely and celebrate the differences across individuals and communities. For Sabrina, anyone who is respectful of curious about the experiences of the British-Somali community is welcome. This aligns with The Guardian’s assertion that Sabrina is “a part of a generation of younger artists putting British- Somali-culture on the map.”

Sabrina’s dedication to her craft and her many early career achievements, have led to her gaining a place on The Royal Court’s writers group and the VAL Writing Lab.

Sabrina is currently very excited to be working on the full-length version of Dugsi Dayz as a recipient of the 2023 Untapped award. She can’t wait to bring this previously sold-out play to the esteemed Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2023.