Forest Forge Theatre’s production of Hidden is currently touring the south, to schools for performances and workshops, and theatre venues for public performances.

Young actor Inaam Barwani plays the role of Samir. The 19 year old from North London trained with the Pauline Quirke Academy and The Identity School of Acting.

We caught up with Inaam to find out what he thinks of his character Samir, how he’s researched his role and how he’s found working on such a thought-provoking new play.

Inaam Barwani as Samir in Forest Forge Theatre’s Hidden.

It has been an honour to rehearse Hidden at Forest Forge and to be able to bring the character of Samir to life. The process of approaching Samir has given me a great insight into how life for a young boy like Samir, an innocent child caught in the crossfire of war and political chaos, would be like.

A big part of my initial research for the character was informed by watching many documentaries showing life in and around Baghdad, one of the most useful, unbiased documentaries being “Homeland: Iraq Year Zero” by Abbas Fahdel”, which shows a range of different opinions on the political climate of Iraq and the U.S and UK before, during and after the 2003 invasion of Iraq. I would urge people to watch this beautiful 5-something hour piece of journalism to see the humanity of people, which we see so much of in the play.

The play has also given me an understanding of all sides of the argument tackled in the show, and playwright Vickie Donoghue doesn’t pull any punches. I am super grateful to be able to tell this beautiful, gripping and important story, with such a talented cast and crew who are all equally passionate about this story and have put everything into making this play come together.

Inaam Barwani actor headshot.

For my first professional tour, I couldn’t have asked for a better team to have worked with on this. I have learned such a great deal about my craft with this project, and I’m glad to be taking this type of powerful, thought and conversation-provoking theatre to our audiences.

We’re about six shows into the tour now, and it’s at the point where the dust has settled and we can really live and enjoy the story and play and try out new exciting things.

We’re touring until November 3rd, come along and watch!

Don’t miss the Hidden tour or book it for your school/venue. Find out more here!