Contact Us

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

Archives: Plays






Filters




Filters
Search
Apply
Reset
Show (394)
Cancel

Apply
Reset

  • Title: Noura

    Author: Heather Raffo

    Year: 2021

    Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

    Synopsis: Noura by Heather Raffo explores the fractured identity of an Iraqi Christian refugee struggling to reconcile past and present in post-9/11 America. Inspired by A Doll’s House, the play centers on Noura’s internal exile, resurfaced secrets, and cultural conflict during a Christmas gathering. As her carefully built American life unravels, tensions around womanhood, exile, and belonging erupt. Part of Raffo’s collected works, Noura offers a rare, feminist lens on refugee life and the emotional toll of assimilation.

    Publication: Raffo, H. (2021 2021). Noura. In Heather Raffo’s Iraq Plays: The Things That Can’t Be Said (pp. 92–149). London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

  • Title: A Tale of Two Cities Adapted

    Author: Matthew Dunster

    Year: 2017

    Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

    Synopsis: Matthew Dunster’s A Tale of Two Cities reimagines Dickens’s classic by interweaving the French Revolution with present-day issues like displacement and social inequality. The plot follows characters caught in the chaos of revolution, drawing parallels to modern refugee crises. Despite its innovative staging and visual transitions, the story becomes difficult to follow due to temporal shifts and uneven delivery, ultimately diluting the emotional impact of Dickens’s original narrative.

    Publication: Dunster, M. (2017 2021). A Tale of Two Cities. In A Tale of Two Cities (pp. 7–143). London: Oberon Books.

  • Title: Refugee Boy

    Author: Benjamin Zephaniah

    Year: 2022

    Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

    Synopsis: Refugee Boy follows Alem, a teenager left alone in England by his father to escape the civil war in Ethiopia. As he navigates the British asylum system, Alem faces isolation, bureaucracy, and prejudice. Through friendships with Mustapha, Ruth, and Sweeney, he finds hope, identity, and strength. Based on Benjamin Zephaniah’s novel, the play explores belonging, resilience, and what it means to seek refuge.

    Publication: Zephaniah, B., & Sissay, L. (2022 2024). Refugee Boy. In Refugee Boy (pp. 35–89). London: Methuen Drama.

  • Title: How to Keep an Alien

    Author: Sonya Kelly

    Year: 2020

    Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

    Synopsis: How to Keep an Alien is a witty and heartfelt autobiographical play by Sonya Kelly, following her journey to prove her love for her Australian partner, Kate, to Irish immigration authorities. From Ireland to Australia, their bureaucratic odyssey is filled with humour, love, and endless paperwork. Blending comedy, storytelling, and theatrical charm, the play explores the absurdity of immigration systems and the resilience required to keep love alive across borders.

    Publication: Kelly, S. (2020 2021). How to Keep an Alien. In Rough Magic Theatre Company New Irish Plays and Adaptations, 2010–2018 (pp. 254–286). London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

  • Title: Mojada

    Author: Luis Alfaro

    Year: 2021

    Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

    Synopsis: Based on Euripides’ Medea, Alfaro’s Mojada 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). Mojada. In The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro (pp. 187–237). London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

  • Title: Nighthawk 1999

    Author: XingJian Gao

    Year: 1995

    Geography: Europe > Western Europe > France

    Synopsis: In the play, a man walking the streets of urban China in the middle of the night is confronted by a prostitute, a homeless man, and a thief. When the prostitute is found murdered, the blame shifts to the man, a nocturnal wanderer. In the fervid internal monologues of the play, the wanderer wrestles with his feelings, his responses to outside forces, and his search for peace within a violent world.

    Publication: Gao, X. (1995) Le Somnambule . Paris, France: Lansman.

  • Title: Snow in August

    Author: XingJian Gao

    Year: 2003

    Geography: Europe > Western Europe > France

    Synopsis: Snow in August is based on the life of Huineng (AD 633-713), the Sixth Patriarch of Zen Buddhism in Tang Dynasty China. Packed with the myriad sights and sounds of both the Eastern and Western theatrical traditions, the play exudes wonder and mysticism. The many koan cases and the story of Huineng’s enlightenment afford the audience fascinating vignettes of Gao’s vision of life and existence an awareness of the Void and the need for a personal peace with oneself.

    Publication: Xingjian, G., & Fong, G. C. F. (2003). Snow in August: Play by Gao Xingjian. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press.

  • Title: Freedom Project

    Author: Luke Barnes

    Year: 2021

    Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

    Synopsis: Freedom Project follows two teenage refugees, inspired by the real experiences of its performers, as they recount their journeys to the UK. Blending humour, warmth, and stark truths, the play contrasts childhood dreams of safety with the harsh realities of bureaucracy, prejudice, and survival, offering an intimate, urgent portrait of resilience and hope.

    Publication: Barnes, L. (2021 2022). Freedom Project. In Freedom Project (pp. 2–39). London: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

  • Title: The Lonely Londoners

    Author: Sam Selvon, Roy Williams

    Year: 2024

    Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

    Synopsis: The Lonely Londoners follows Henry “Sir Galahad” Oliver, newly arrived from Trinidad in 1950s London, as he joins Moses Aloetta and other West Indian immigrants navigating racism, disillusionment, and homesickness. Roy Williams’ adaptation of Sam Selvon’s novel captures friendship, survival, and the bittersweet search for belonging in a city both dreamt of and unwelcoming.

    Publication: Selvon, S., & Williams, R. (2024 2024). The Lonely Londoners. In The Lonely Londoners (pp. 1–83). London: Methuen Drama.

  • Title: The Claim

    Author: Tim Cowbury

    Year: 2017

    Geography: Europe > Northern Europe > United Kingdom

    Synopsis: In The Claim, Congolese asylum seeker Serge faces a Kafkaesque UK interview where mistranslation, cultural misunderstandings, and bureaucratic bias warp his story into absurdity. Tim Cowbury’s sharp, darkly comic script exposes how language barriers and official indifference can decide life-or-death cases, blending humor and horror to question the fairness of the asylum process.

    Publication: Cowbury, T. (2017 2023). The Claim. In The Claim (pp. xiv–84). London: Oberon Books.