Written by Nicola McCartney & Dritan Kastrati
Directed by Neil Bettles
★★★★★ “Truly stunning” The Scotsman
★★★★ “highly physical, cinematically fluid” The Times
★★★★ “Its power springs from its absolute authenticity” WhatsOnStage
★★★★ “Fluently told and shocking in its straightforward account.” Sunday Times
★★★★ “A triumph from beginning to end.” ReviewsHub
Award-winning theatre company, ThickSkin, returns to the stage with an action packed, highly visual production telling the painful yet uplifting true story of an 11-year-old unaccompanied asylum-seeker.
“I don’t know why my Dad let me go, especially when he knew how dangerous, how hard it was… I was too young, too weak to make this journey. I wouldn’t have sent me… He wouldn’t have sent me unless there was a reason.”
In 2002, in the turmoil after the end of the Kosovan War, Dritan is sent on the notoriously perilous journey across the Adriatic with a gang of people smugglers to a new life in Europe. He relies on his young wit and charm to make it to the UK. But the fight for survival continues as he clings to his identity and sense of self when he ends up in the British care system.
HOW NOT TO DROWN shares a story of endurance for a kid who wasn’t safe or welcome anywhere in the world, performed by an ensemble cast starring Dritan Kastrati himself.
Commissioned by ThickSkin and Lawrence Batley Theatre. Presented by ThickSkin and Traverse Theatre Company.
Winner: 2019 Scotsman Fringe First award
Winner: 2019 Herald Angel award
Winner: 2020 Hector McMillan Best New Scottish Play award
Runtime
90 minutes, no interval
Concessions
Available for under 17s
Click here for details about companion/carer tickets
Schools Rates
Newham schools: £12 per person
All other schools: £14 per person
Group Bookings
If you buy nine standard rate tickets then you get the 10th free. Group bookings (of nine or more tickets) can only be booked over the phone or in person.
Booking Enquiries
Our online booking system doesn’t allow customers to leave isolated seats. We do this in order to prevent gaps in the auditorium.
Please note that due to the raised staging for this production, if you are seated in the front rows you will be looking up at the action on stage.
Please note that our boxes have a slightly restricted view. Seats marked with an ‘i’ on the seating plan have a restricted view.
If you require any help with your booking then please contact our Box Office by emailing tickets@stratfordeast.com or calling 020 8534 0310.
Our ticket prices increase as the theatre fills. We always recommend booking early to secure the best seats at the best price.
Written by Nicola McCartney & Dritan Kastrati
Director & Movement Neil Bettles
Movement by Jonnie Riordan
Design & Costume by Becky Minto
Composition & Sound Design by Alexandra Faye Braithwaite
Lighting by Zoe Spurr
Cast
Ajjaz Awad
Esme Bayley
Daniel Cahill
Dritan Kastrati
Sam Reuben
Age Guidance: 14+ (click here for Content Advisory Notes)
Access Performances
BSL Interpreted: Thu 09 Feb, 7.30pm
Captioned: Fri 10 Feb, 7.30pm
Audio Described: Sat 11 Feb, 2.30pm
Post-show talk: Wed 01 Feb - with Dritan Kastrati, Neil Bettles, and further cast member tbc
Panel discussion: Tue 07 Feb - hosted by Deborah Frances-White (The Guilty Feminist), with panel members including Steve Ali and Nicola McCartney
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