Hamid and Shakespeare

A chance spotting of a poster advertising Shakespeare's 400th centenary spurs a refugee's imagination to transport himself from his detention cell through to a performance of Midsummer Night's Dream at London's Globe Theatre, by randomly pressing a fingerprint on the wall.

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As we move between the 21st and 16th centuries, Shakespeare introduces Hamid both to a promised new land, and to a series of well-known plays through which Hamid tells his own experiences: of interrogation, of his journey from home: crossing the sea, getting lost in the forest, his months spent in the Calais 'jungle', and his arrival in the UK in the back of a refrigerated lorry. In turn, Shakespeare teaches Hamid how to speak English, shows the correct behavior when travelling on the London underground, and gives him a helping hand at the Home Office.

From light to dark and back again, it's a relationship of humour, exasperation and great humanity as Shakespeare and Hamid become the guides to each other's worlds, both father and son, and teacher and student.

'Through this project I want to change the way the refugee experience is understood. I want to demonstrate how different cultures can live together through the exchange of dialogue and share with readers the stories of refugees, and the experiences many of us have gone through. As well as the difficulties, I want the story to demonstrate how humour and hope can be found in every situation, and that friendships can be made between all people despite cultural differences. It will be about British heritage as well as Iranian culture.'