
Bringing people of different faiths together in the pursuit of shared creative expression is what we live for. And we’re not going to lie, we’re on a mission to make change.
As Muslims and Jews ourselves, we deeply dislike the polarising narratives and representations we so often see in the mainstream media. They don’t sound like us, and they don’t show how we live our lives.
So, we’re trying to build an alternative voice, one that’s based on tolerance, reflection and not shying away from the difficult questions.
But please don’t get the wrong impression…we like a good time as much as the next person and we want our audience to have a good time too. You won’t hear us preach. We prefer to change minds and skewer stereotypes with satire and smarts.
So, for the past 10 years (is it really that long?) we’ve been devising acclaimed plays, writing comedy sketches, recording podcasts, working with schools and simply getting people together for good old-fashioned chats.
MUJU began life as a Muslim and Jewish Youth Theatre Group in 2004, with the support of the Kiln Theatre, Pears Foundation and One to One Children Foundation. Our goal back then was to get young Muslims and Jews to come together for weekly drama workshops.
It didn’t take long for us to get our teeth into the issues we still care about today: race, religion, poverty, social justice and youth culture. Over time, our weekly workshops became a melting pot of ideas: Our inhibitions fell away and we became great friends.
In 2008, the founding members of the workshops established the group as a registered charity, and MUJU was born.
In the same year our work was formally recognised when MUJU won the first Mosaic Talent Interfaith Award, presented by HRH Prince Charles.