About this Event
About the play
Snakes and Ladders is a powerful and intimate theatre production by Zhvan Theatre Company, produced by We Restart Charity – Art Centre of Sanctuary in partnership with Legal Aliens. Written by Hamed Vojoudzadeh, an Iranian journalist, activist and refugee, the play is rooted in lived experience and shaped through a collective creative process.
Blending storytelling, movement, and visual language, the performance follows Hamed’s journey from Iran across Europe to the UK, framed through asylum interviews and moments of reflection. As his memories unfold, the audience is taken into refugee camps, border crossings, forests, trucks and boats—where survival often feels like a game governed by chance and forces beyond one’s control. Like the board game Snakes and Ladders, moments of hope and progress can quickly turn into setbacks, delays, and unexpected falls.
Along the way, we meet a group of fellow travellers whose stories intersect and diverge: people searching for safety, dignity, and a future. Their experiences reveal not only hardship and loss, but also humour, friendship, generosity, and resilience. Moving between intense and lighter moments, the play reflects the complexity of real lives and relationships, using a minimal set and ensemble approach to create an immersive and accessible experience that does not rely solely on spoken English.
Snakes and Ladders invites audiences to look beyond headlines and statistics and engage with migration as a deeply human experience—one shaped by risk, choice, survival, and the search for belonging.
The show is presented as part of the Human Rights Festival during Refugee Week, contributing to a wider programme that celebrates courage, creativity, and the right to dignity for all.
Donations:
The show is free to attend, but we warmly encourage donations. All contributions will directly support the missions of the two charities behind the production: We Restart – Art Centre of Sanctuary and Legal Aliens, helping them continue delivering creative programmes, advocacy, and support for underrepresented communities. To learn more about the charities and their work, please visit their websites.
We Restart - Art Centre of Sanctuary: Theatre | WE RESTART
Legal Aliens Theatre: home - LegalAliens Theatre
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
BOLD Elephant, 21 Saint George's Road, London, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00
