Nine Lives

“This letter says I’m a reference number. I’m an applicant. I’m circumstances. But it doesn’t say that I’m real. It doesn’t say that I exist… It doesn’t say that I’m a person.”

Ishmael has fled from his home in Zimbabwe, where a fresh wave of homophobia threatens his life.

Arriving in the UK he sees the prospect of sanctuary, and of a new life among strangers. But will those strangers accept him?

Written by Zimbabwe-born playwright Zodwa Nyoni, Nine Lives threads together humour and humanity to tell real-life, personal and intimate stories behind the asylum headlines.