How Not To Drown
By Nicola McCartney and Dritan Kastrati
Award-winning theatre company, ThickSkin, returns to the stage with an action packed, highly visual production telling the painful yet uplifting true story of an eleven year-old unaccompanied asylum-seeker.
“I don’t know why my Dad let me go, especially when he knew how dangerous, how hard it was… 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. His wit and charm helped him navigate this journey. With ThickSkin’s trademark physicality and slick production values, How Not to Drown presents an action film for the stage.
A story of endurance for a little kid who wasn’t safe or welcome anywhere in the world, performed by an ensemble cast starring Dritan Kastrati himself.
“truly stunning”
The Scotsman
“a triumph from beginning to end”
ReviewsHub
“…its power springs from its absolute authenticity”
What's On Stage
“a heroic evocation of human triumph”
The Herald
“Neil Bettles’ physically dynamic production”
EdFest Mag
“fluently told “
The Sunday Times
Winner
The Herald Angels Award for Dritan Kastrati
2019
Winner
The Scotsman Fringe First Award
2019
Winner
Hector MacMillan Award for Best New Scottish Play
2020
"This is truly something not to be missed.’
ReviewsHub
"The staging is as turbulent and as knife-edge as Kastrati’s life itself."
EdFest Mag
"an extraordinary story"
The Guardian
Credits
CREATIVE TEAM
Written by:
Nicola McCartney
Dritan Kastrati
Choreography
Neil Bettles & Jonnie Riordan
Designer
Becky Minto
Composer and Sound Designer
Alexandra Faye Braithwaite
Lighting Designer
Zoe Spurr
A ThickSkin and Traverse Theatre Company production, supported by Theatre Royal Stratford East. Commissioned by ThickSkin and Lawrence Batley Theatre.