Performance and Migration website is designed to support any researcher, student or specialist in completing literature reviews, essays, publications or more in the field of Theatre and Migration by providing an easily accessible archive of research which has been compiled and sorted into several comprehensive collections
Author: Biljana Srbljanović
Year: 1999
Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom
Synopsis: Set in Sydney, Los Angeles and Prague on New Year’s Eve, the play shows snapshots from everyday life of young people who fled abroad to escape the Balkan war and the choices they face as they attempt to build a new life for themselves as exiles.
Publication: Srbljanović, B. (1999). Belgrade Trilogy. In Eastern Promise (pp. 271–318). London: Aurora Metro Press.
Author: Anna Jordan
Year: 2014
Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom
Synopsis: Anna Jordan’s Chicken Shop is a gritty coming-of-age drama about sixteen-year-old Hendrix, struggling with bullies, his mother’s new relationship, and his own insecurities. To prove his masculinity, he visits a brothel above a fried-chicken shop, where he befriends Luminita, a trafficked Moldovan woman. Their fragile bond exposes harsh truths about exploitation, identity, and growing up. The play premiered at Park Theatre, London, in 2014, directed by Jemma Gross.
Publication: Jordan, A. (2014). Chicken Shop. In Chicken Shop (pp. 8–117). London: Nick Hern Books.
Author: Henrik Ibsen
Year: 2005
Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom
Synopsis: In Samuel Adamson’s version of Ibsen’s Pillars of the Community, businessman Karsten Bernick’s flawless reputation masks a dangerous secret. When the truth threatens to surface, he plots a ruthless scheme—only to risk the life he loves most. Set against capitalism’s rise, America’s allure, and early struggles for women’s emancipation, this rarely staged thriller premiered at the National Theatre, London, in 2005.
Publication: Ibsen, H., & Adamson, S. (2005). Pillars of the Community. In Pillars of the Community (pp. –110). London: Faber and Faber.
Author: Ayub Khan Din
Year: 1997
Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom
Synopsis: Ayub Khan Din’s East is East is a sharp comedy about a mixed-heritage family in 1970s Salford. Pakistani chip-shop owner George Khan enforces strict Muslim traditions on his six children, clashing with their English mother Ella and the kids’ desire for independence. Household tensions escalate as cultural identity, loyalty, and generational conflict collide. First staged in 1996, the play won the John Whiting Award and inspired the hit 1999 film adaptation.
Publication: Din, A. (1997). East is East. In EAST IS EAST (pp. 3–78). London: NICK HERN BOOKS.
Author: David Greig
Year: 2010
Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom
Synopsis: San Diego interweaves multiple stories—from illegal immigrants and pilots to film stars and the making of Band on the Run—into a surreal, comic, and sometimes nightmarish narrative. Inspired by the playwright’s first visit to America, it explores the search for home, community, and the elusive American dream.
Publication: Greig, D. (2010). San Diego. In Selected Plays 1999–2009 (pp. 2–121). London: Faber and Faber.
Author: Dermot Bolger
Year: 2000
Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom
Synopsis: On a Hamburg railway platform, Irish emigrant Eoin recounts his life, his homeland, and his love of football. Through childhood memories, family struggles, and emigration, he searches for a sense of belonging. His first true feeling of Irish unity comes on the terraces of the 1988 European Championships.
Publication: Bolger, D. (2000). In High Germany. In Plays 1 (pp. 70–99). London: Methuen Drama.
Author: Louise Monaghan
Year: 2012
Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom
Synopsis: Set in a community centre in Leeds, four women meet to play bridge as a BNP rally rages outside. Dianna, Deb, Nasreen, and Stephie confront their differing beliefs and loyalties while discussing family and heritage. Tensions peak when Stephie’s fourteen-year-old son, Jack, is implicated in a brutal racist attack on an eleven-year-old Pakistani boy, forcing the women to face the consequences of prejudice and ideology.
Publication: Monaghan, L. (2012). Pack. In Pack (pp. 2–93). London: Nick Hern Books.
Author: Trish Cooke
Year: 1993
Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom
Synopsis: Running Dream tells the story of three generations of West Indian women with warmth and humour.
Publication: Cooke, T. (1993). Running Dream. In Six Plays by Black and Asian Women Writers (pp. 243–296). London: Aurora Metro Press.
Author: Adrian Jackson
Year: 2012
Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom
Synopsis: A Few Man Fridays traces the forced eviction of the Chagos Islanders between 1967 and 1973 to make way for a US military base. The play follows their decades-long struggle for justice, exploring themes of displacement, denial of nationhood, and marginalisation. Cardboard Citizens combines personal stories with historical events to depict the clash between the fantasies of the powerful and the dreams of the powerless.
Publication: Jackson, A. (2012 2023). A Few Man Fridays. In A Few Man Fridays (pp. 10–130). London: Oberon Books.
Author: Adrian Jackson
Year: 2019
Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom
Synopsis: Bystanders presents true and extraordinary stories of homeless and vulnerable people, from a Jamaican ex-boxer to a Polish man exploited by a stag party. The play exposes systemic neglect, humanizes its subjects, and highlights resilience, humour, and dignity amid harsh realities, urging audiences to recognize the individuals behind the headlines.
Publication: Jackson, A. (2019 2023). Bystanders. In Bystanders (pp. –57). London: Oberon Books.