How Not To Drown – Oldham Coliseum
'STOP THE BOATS’ is an easy phrase parrotted by politicians seeking the quick dopamine rush of an approving headline in the Daily Mail or Express. In the rush to demonise immigrants as criminals and scroungers, what is lost is the individual stories of struggle, heartbreak and loss that each one of the statistics actually represents. Writer Dritan Kastrati and ThickSkin Theatre attempt to redress this imbalance in perception, resulting in an authentic voice exploring the journey of one young boy through the asylum and care system in 21st century Britain.
Dritan Kastrati was an 11-year-old Kosovan Albanian, when his parents made the decision to remove him from the chaotic aftermath of the Balkan war and send him to the supposed safety and security of the UK. Kasrati told his story to Nic...