2020Soho Theatre

The Special Relationship

Yes I was deported back. Old Trump sent me here. Anything happens to my family, I’m coming across that ocean if I got to come in a tugboat, singing, “Row, row, row your boat”.

In America, foreign nationals can be deported after serving prison sentences; some of them are British. Caught in the transatlantic tango between Trump and May and proudly presented by a gun-toting immigration officer, these are their verbatim stories of double punishment and separation from loved ones.

Hassan Abdulrazzak interviewed ex-prisoners and experts in immigration and criminal law to get behind the political rhetoric and explore the extraordinary realities of people caught up in the quagmire of immigration detention and deportation.

The Special Relationship was researched in collaboration with Prisoners Abroad, a UK charity supporting British citizens imprisoned overseas and returning to the UK.

Written by
Hassan Abdulrazzak
Directed by
Esther Baker
Set design by
Katy McPhee
Lighting design by
Tony Simpson
Sound design by
Sarah Weltman
Choreography by
Lucie Pankhurst
Featuring
Amrita Acharia, Moyo Akandé, Nicholas Beveney, Yvette Boakye, Miranda Foster, Fergal McElherron, Duncan Wisbey
Trailer
★★★★
Sobering and powerful
Sunday Times
★★★★
Stranger than fiction. And far more engaging
Everything Theatre
Impressive documentary drama
British Theatre Guide
★★★★
Addresses important issues of crime and punishment , bravely recounting real stories of real people in a political climate that denies them those rights
The Reviews Hub
Interview with deportees whose stories inspired the play
Interview with writer and director
Audience feedback

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