by Lemn Sissay (Author), Benjamin Zephaniah (Author), Lynette Goddard (Editor)
An eye for an eye. Its very simple. You choose your homeland like a hyena picking and choosing where he steals his next meal from. Scavenger. Yes you grovel to the feet of Mengistu and when his people spit at you and kick you from the bowl you scuttle across the border. Scavenger.<\/i> As a violent civil war rages back home in Ethiopia, teenager Alem and his father are in a bed and breakfast in Berkshire. It\x27s his best holiday ever. The next morning his father is gone and has left a note explaining that he and his mother want to protect Alem from the war. This strange grey country of England is now his home. On his own, and in the hands of the social services and the Refugee Council, Alem lives from letter to letter, waiting to hear something from his father. Then he meets car\-obsessed Mustapha, the lovely \x27out\-of\-your\-league\x27 Ruth and dangerous Sweeney three unexpected allies who spur him on in his fight to be seen as more than just the Refugee Boy. Lemn Sissay\x27s remarkable stage adaptation of Benjamin Zephaniah\x27s bestselling novel is published here in the Methuen Drama Student Edition series, featuring commentary \x26 notes by Professor Lynette Goddard (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK) that help the student unpack the play\x27s themes, language, structure and production history to date.
Every purchase you make from the National Theatre Bookshop helps fund the vital work of The National Theatre. Whether that's putting new work on stages across the world or supporting our outreach and learning programmes, every purchase you make really does make a difference.
