Insane Asylum Seekers Tickets

Thirty years ago, Laith's parents fled Iraq to escape Saddam Hussein's dictatorship and claimed asylum in the UK. At twenty-seven years of age, his father had escaped multiple bloodthirsty dictatorships. Meanwhile, at twenty-seven, Laith is having panic attacks and keeping a secret that's been haunting him for years. Now it's finally catching up with him, just as his parents begin losing it as well. His mother won't stop throwing things at seagulls, and his father keeps wandering off during life-threatening situations.

Side-splittingly funny and deeply moving, Insane Asylum Seekers transfers to the Bush Theatre's main stage following a sold-out Studio run. Directed by Olivier Award-nominee Emily Ling Williams (A Playlist for the Revolution), this autobiographical play is written by British-Iraqi playwright, screenwriter, and community organiser Laith Elzubaidi, founder of the British-Arab Writers Group and winner of a Tony Craze Award. The fastest-selling Studio show in the theatre's history, it sold out the entire original run within two weeks. Starring Tommy Sim'aan as Laith, it explores what it's like to grow up British-Iraqi, how one generation's trauma affects the other's, and how refugee identity unfolds in the wake of inherited trauma, family expectations, and conflicting perspectives on masculinity.

Don't miss this daring, funny, and utterly unique autobiographical comedy.