Chickenshed

A play directed by Jelena Budimir and based on acclaimed poet Benjamin Zephaniah’s book which had been adapted for the stage by poet Lemn Sissay. This continues Chickenshed’s exploration of the issues surrounding refugees and immigration, which were recently examined so powerfully in the theatre’s sell-out run of Kindertransport.

Benjamin Zephaniah is a much-loved and celebrated British Jamaican poet, who has featured in The Times list of Britain's top 50 post-war writers. Refugee Boy tells the story of 14 year old Alem, a refugee forced to flee his family and country for London in the late 1990s, to escape civil war at home in the disputed region between Ethiopia and Eritrea. As a child of parents from both regions, Alem is in great danger from the forces of both sides, and is forced to seek safety alone in the UK. The play shows us the human face behind the news stories, whichever conflict has caused families to be torn apart, young people to be separated from parents, and children to be displaced to another country far from home.

Benjamin Zephaniah said, ‘This planet is for everyone, borders are for no one. It's all about freedom.’ Chickenshed is an organisation that agrees wholeheartedly with this sentiment, and indeed looks to break down borders and to put an end to marginalisation of all sorts. With this season, the company demonstrates its long-held aim: to offer an alternative to cynicism, to exclusion and to the rejection of those who are different. Where fear is the disease, Chickenshed is the remedy.