Sorry We Didn’t Die at Sea by Emanuele Aldrovandi translated by Marco Young (paperback)

It’s the near future and Europe has failed. A domino effect of nationalist, isolationist policies has left the continent’s economies on the brink of collapse, and citizens of the countries who closed their borders to immigrants are forced to flee across the seas.

In a claustrophobic shipping container, three unnamed travellers place their lives at the mercy of a mysterious people-smuggler. Forced to exist on the brink between civility and chaos, they pray that they will reach their destination. And yet there are natural – and human – forces at work which are far beyond their control.

This darkly comic, absurdist, and political piece offers us a refracted story of European migration – asking us how well we would fare if we were forced to make a perilous journey across the sea, and what lengths we would go to in order to survive.

Playwright Emanuele Aldrovandi is one of Italy’s foremost theatre-makers. His work has been performed across Europe and the United States.

★★★★ ‘Ambitious, darkly funny and absurd… an extremely memorable night’ Everything Theatre

‘Emanuele Aldrovandi is on the rise, with a unique talent for off-kilter stories, situations and characters’ La Repubblica

Casting: 4 actors (1 female / 3 male)

Duration: 75 minutes