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How Not To Drown

Full-Length Play, Drama  /  2w, 3m

Nicola McCartney, Dritan Kastrati

Hilarious, painful and uplifting, How Not to Drown shares a story of endurance for a little kid who wasn’t safe or welcome anywhere in the world.

How Not To Drown

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  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    2w, 3m
Accolades
Accolades

  • Winner! 2019 Fringe First Award 

Details

Summary

I don’t know why my Dad let me go... 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.

Hilarious, painful and uplifting, How Not to Drown shares a story of endurance for a little kid who wasn’t safe or welcome anywhere in the world.

Award-winning theatre company ThickSkin (Chalk Farm, The Static) returns to the stage with an action-packed, highly visual production.

History
How Not To Drown was first performed on 4 August 2019 at Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh. Directed by Neil Bettles, the production featured Dritan Kastrati, Ajjaz Awad, Esme Bayley, Daniel Cahill and Reuben Joseph.
Cast Attributes
Keywords
DRITAN – A Kosovan-Albanian refugee; various ages 6–28 yrs, played by Dritan and the Chorus
DAD – Ibish
MUM – Bute
ALFRED – Dritan’s older brother
LULI – Dritan’s eldest sister
TILA – Dritan’s second eldest sister
RICKY
GENZI
ANDI – Dritan’s loyal childhood friend
THE BIG BOSS
JIMMY
TRAIN TICKET INSPECTOR
PARISIAN TICKET SALESPERSON
FOSTER CARERS – Indian parents, Sandra and Bill, Geoffrey and Anne, John and Gillian, Mary and Brian
STEPHEN – Sandra & Bill’s son
ENVER – Another Albanian kid in care
GARETH – Another kid in care
ALEX – Another kid in care with Dritan
DAVE – Dritan’s school friend
PRISCILLA – A social worker (South African)
MICHAEL TULLOCH – A teacher
  • Setting

    A raft adrift on an expanse of water, journeying from Europe to the UK. 1999-present.

Media

“A survival story that speaks to what it is like to be caught between two cultures.” – The Guardian

“It takes us through the journey itself, and then, perhaps most tragically, through Dritan’s sometimes shocking experience at the hands of the British ‘care’ system.” – The Scotsman

“Dritan Kastrati is centre stage… in the telling of his own journey from war-torn Kosovo to seek asylum in Britain when he was just 11 years old.” – The Times

“Shocking in its straightforward account both of the dangers of the journey and the consequences of landing in the UK as an unaccompanied minor and finding yourself submerged in the care system.” – The Times

“Its power springs from its absolute authenticity.” – WhatsOnStage

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: £70 per performance plus VAT when applicable.

Scripts

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