Archives: Plays

Author: Edward Bond

Year: 2012

Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

Synopsis: The Under Room, part of Edward Bond’s The Chair Plays trilogy, confronts the clash between law and humanity. When a refugee hides in Joan’s cellar, she must decide whether to betray him or help him escape. Using Bond’s stark language and symbolic doubling of the refugee as man and dummy, the play exposes trauma, survival, and society’s destructive moral contradictions.

Publication: Bond, E. (2012). The Under Room. In The Chair Plays (pp. 38–73). London: Methuen Drama.

Author: Tom Murphy

Year: 2006

Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

Synopsis: The House is Tom Murphy’s searing drama of exile, return, and obsession. Set in 1950s Ireland, emigrant workers return each summer, caught between home and abroad, belonging nowhere. Among them, Christy Cavanagh—prosperous yet restless—fixates on the De Burca family and their house, seeing it as his lost paradise. His attempt to claim it, driven by memory and obsession, spirals into violence and tragedy, revealing the destructive cost of longing and displacement.

Publication: Murphy, T. (2006). The House. In Plays: 5 (pp. 182–293). London: Methuen Drama.

Author: Rachel De-lahay

Year: 2013

Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

Synopsis: Routes by Rachel De-lahay interweaves stories of people caught in the web of immigration and identity. Olufemi, in Nigeria, seeks a false passport to reunite with his family in Britain. Bashir, a long-term resident, is trapped in legal limbo. His teenage friend Kola, adrift between parents and the law, finds unexpected kinship. Through these characters, the play exposes the human cost of exile, bureaucracy, and belonging.

Publication: De-lahay, R. (2013). Routes. In Routes (pp. 3–74). London: Bloomsbury Methuen Drama.

Author: Philip Ridley

Year: 2016

Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

Synopsis: In a fractured dystopian world, rituals of love and sacrifice shape destiny. In Mareka, prom kings and queens are executed as part of a macabre tradition, while scapegoats are lynched to preserve conformity. Teenagers Dean and Libby escape, seeking freedom beyond oppressive rituals, while in Cotna, devotion to the state erases individuality. Philip Ridley’s Karagula intertwines parallel universes, memory, and faith, questioning humanity’s relentless search for meaning in chaos.

Publication: Ridley, P. (2016). Karagula. In Karagula (pp. –159). London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Author: Paul Sirett

Year: 2005

Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

Synopsis: The Big Life is a lively musical about four West Indian men in England who vow to abstain from women for three years to focus on success. But their plans are challenged by four determined women, leading to a humorous and heartwarming tale of love, ambition, and the irresistible power of romance.

Publication: Sirett, P. (2005 2021). The Big Life: The Ska Musical. In The Big Life: The Ska Musical (pp. 4–95). London: Oberon Books.

Author: Luke Barnes

Year: 2018

Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

Synopsis: Fable is part of a trilogy of plays created with and for young people, inspired by Isango Ensemble’s A Man of Good Hope. It tells the story of a refugee’s journey across the globe, exploring truth, resilience, and human experience. Performed in schools in London, New York, and Cape Town, and filmed for the Young Vic, it amplifies voices often unheard while respecting their lived realities.

Publication: Barnes, L. (2018 2021). Fable. In Young Vic Taking Part Collection 1 (pp. 26–86). London: Oberon Books.

Author: Caryl Phillips

Year: 2015

Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

Synopsis: Strange Fruit follows Alvin and Errol, two Black brothers in 1980s England, who grapple with identity, family, and belonging. Torn between their Caribbean roots and a hostile British society, they confront the truths and lies of their past after their grandfather’s funeral. The play explores cultural displacement, generational conflict, and the painful search for self within a divided world.

Publication: Phillips, C. (2015 2020). Strange Fruit. In Strange Fruit (pp. 10–123). London: Oberon Books.

Author: Luis Alfaro

Year: 2021

Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

Synopsis: Based on Sophocles’ Oedipus, Alfaro’s Oedipus El Rey transplants ancient themes and problems into the 21st century streets of Los Angeles, in order to give voice to the concerns of the Chicanx and wider Latinx communities.

Publication: Alfaro, L. (2021 2021). Oedipus El Rey. In The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro (pp. 115–179). London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

Author: Ryan Calais Cameron

Year: 2022

Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

Synopsis: Human Nurture by Ryan Calais Cameron explores the complex friendship of Harry, a white British man, and Runaku (formerly Roger), a Black British man, who grew up together in care. When Runaku returns on Harry’s 18th birthday, past bonds collide with issues of race, privilege, and identity. Raw, urgent, and confronting, the play examines allyship, systemic inequality, and the personal impact of racism in contemporary Britain.

Publication: Cameron, R. (2022 2023). Human Nurture. In Human Nurture (pp. 2–40). London: Methuen Drama.

Author: Sudha Bhuchar

Year: 2014

Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

Synopsis: My Name is … by Sudha Bhuchar is a moving verbatim play about Gaby, a young woman who disappears from her Scottish home. Assumed kidnapped by her Pakistani father, she instead embraces a new life in Pakistan, declaring, “My name is Ghazala.” The play sensitively explores cross-cultural identity, family conflict, and a love story rooted in 1970s Glasgow, beyond media sensationalism.

Publication: Bhuchar, S. (2014). My Name is …. In My Name is … (pp. –42). London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.