The voice of Theresa May opens this stage version of the Bafta-winning film Sitting in Limbo. It is 2013 and soon, she tells us, it will be harder for illegal immigrants to live in the UK. Her words are a chilling prophecy for the horrors of what is to come over the next hour.
This is the story of Anthony Bryan who came to the UK from Jamaica with his mother when he was eight years old. He has lived there ever since, has a job and a family, and his mum spent 25 years working as a nurse for the NHS. “I’m British,” he says proudly. Philip J Morris’s production is a straight retelling of Bryan’s life shattering into pieces, after he receives a letter from the Home Office. While it is theatrically safe his tale is an incomprehensible, brutal tragedy.
We watch as Bryan (Gary McDonald) is shovelled from one detention centre to the next. He’s allowed home – but feels on edge about what’s around the corner. And rightly so: at a moment’s notice, he is shipped away from his family again and faces yet more threats of deportation. He produces birth certificates, health records and old family photos – but nothing is enough. His spark gradually fades, as everything he has ever worked hard for is pulled out from beneath his feet. The hostility of the government burns through every step. “It’s like I’m having to beg to stay in my own country,” he weeps.
This is one man’s experience – which he initially thinks is a stroke of horrific bad luck. But a series of news reports tell us the hidden reality of the Windrush generation. As we now know, Bryan’s case is one of many. A lasting question remains though: what compensation have these people got for everything they’ve ever known being ripped apart?
On the preview I see, the flow of the production, adapted by Shenagh Cameron, is somewhat jittery. Pauses last a little longer than is comfortable between scenes and the acting is, at times, wooden. But Sitting in Limbo is as much a rallying cry for the people the government overlooked as it is drama. This is a modern catastrophe that leaves you furious and ashamed.
• At Watford Palace theatre until 22 June
