Refugee Boy

Benjamin Zephaniah, Lynette Goddard, Lemn Sissay

• Publisher: Methuen Drama
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781350171916
• eBook ISBN: 9781350171947
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Drama
• Index: Literature

An eye for an eye. It's 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. As a violent civil war rages back home in Ethiopia, teenager Alem and his father are in a bed and breakfast in Berkshire. It's 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 'out-of-your-league' 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's remarkable stage adaptation of Benjamin Zephaniah's bestselling novel is published here in the Methuen Drama Student Edition series, featuring commentary & notes by Professor Lynette Goddard (Royal Holloway, University of London, UK) that help the student unpack the play's themes, language, structure and production history to date.

Refugee Boy

Characters

Alem

Mr Kelo

Mr Hardwick

Mustapha

Sweeney

Soldier One

Mrs Kelo

Mr Fitzgerald

Mrs Fitzgerald

Ruth

Social worker

Adjudicator

Lawyer

Soldier Two

Hoodie

Representative

Man

Scene One

Mr Kelo It is the North Star.

Alem But where are the other stars?

Mr Kelo In England the stars have to sleep. They take it in turns to shine. To save energy.

Alem No.

Mr Kelo Yes. Because if they shine for too long they get tired and when they get tired their power goes out. The North Star decided he would always shine because he is more powerful than the rest . . . Okay.

Alem Can I come? Please. Please. Can I? Can I?

Scene Two

Alem wakes he gets out of bed. He tries the door of the bedroom. It is locked. He asks for his father in Amharic, ‘Father’. Alem is tired. He looks out of the window. In Amharic, ‘Father’. He checks the door. In Amharic, ‘Father’. It’s still locked. He puts his ear to the wall, to the floor. He tries the door again. His panic grows. In Amharic, ‘Father’. He goes to the window again and shouts in Amharic, ‘Father, Father, Father’. The door bangs. Bang! Bang! Bang! A muffled noise comes from outside the room. Alem is silent. Bang! Bang! Bang! Silence. The sound of a door unlocking. Alem backs away. The door swings open.

Mr Hardwick Right. What’s going on here then. We’ll have no noise in here.

Alem (in Amharic) Abaten yet alleh / Where is my father?

Mr Hardwick Where’s Mr Kelo then? And where did he put that elephant? In the bathroom? Mr Kelo?

Alem (in Amharic) Abaten yet alleh / Where is my father?

Mr Hardwick Do. You. Know. Where. Mr Kelo. Is.

Alem (in Amharic) Abaten neh feligalloh / I want my father.

Mr Hardwick Where is Mr Kelo? Mr Kelo? Mr Kelo?

Alem screams.

Mr Hardwick No no no no no. Shhh Shhh . . . Shhhhh. I’m not going to hurt. I’m not going to hurt you.

Mr Hardwick sees letter on mirror of bed table and picks it up. Where is he?

Mr Hardwick reads.

Mr Hardwick Oh. Oh, I see.

Alem (in Amharic) Tamalehsoh yimahtal / He’s coming back.

Mr Hardwick I’ll call the people and we’ll get this sorted.

Alem (in Amharic) Tamalehsoh yimahtal / He’s coming back.

Anteh washahenye / You lie to me.

Tamalehsoh yimahtal / he’s coming back.

Anteh washahenye / You lie to me.

Mr Hardwick Just calm down a minute, son.

Alem (in Amharic) Enee liggeh EYEdelahun / I am not your son.

Mr Hardwick Calm down.

Alem Enee liggeh EYEdelahun / I’m not your son.

(in Amharic) Men kat alehbinyih / I have to wake up.

Men kat alehbinyih / I have to wake up.

Men kat alehbinyih / I have to wake up.

Mr Hardwick Shhhhh Shhhhh, you’ll wake the whole bloomin’ house up, carrying on like that . . .

Mr Hardwick moves. Alem backs off.

Come on.

Mr Hardwick moves.

Alem (in Amharic) Wake up, wake up, wake up.

Mr Hardwick holds out letter.

Mr Hardwick Ey . . . it’s from him. From Mr Kelo.

Alem moves back stares.

Mr Hardwick For you, lad.

Mr Hardwick moves towards Alem like he’s snared a tiger.

Mr Hardwick It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. Do you hear me? I’m not going to hurt you. I’ve a son myself. Just like you. Not like you. But you know. Like you. Here . . .

Mr Hardwick places the letter on the ground and leaves.

Mr Kelo appears.

Mr Kelo My dearest son,

You have seen all the trouble that we have been going through back home –

Alem Until fighting stops and our persecution is over,

Mr Kelo Until the fighting stops and our persecution is over, your mother and I think that it would be best if you stay in England.

Alem Your mother and I think that it would be best if you stay in England.

We just cannot afford to risk another attack.

Mr Kelo On you; we value your life more than anything.

Alem We may be joining you soon.

Mr Kelo If things get better, you will be joining us. Remember to love your neighbours because peace is better than war, wherever you live. Your loving Father.

Alem Your loving FATHER.

Alem speaks from sadness to defiant anger.

. . . No No No No No No.

Scene Three

Alem, first day in Children’s Home Dining Room.

Mustapha Pisses me off, man. Pisses me right off. They always give us a few chips and a load of peas. A load of peas and how many chips is that? How...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half-Title
• Title
• Contents
• Playwright
• Contexts
• Themes
• Characters
• Dramatic Devices
• Production History and Reception
• Refugee Boy
• Notes
• copyright