Khadija is 18

Synopsis

Khadija is 18 is a story from the frontline of multicultural Britain, and explores the lives of two teenage refugee girls in London's East End. Liza needs Khadija and Khadija needs Liza. When Khadija links up with Ade, things begin to unravel. Does Khadija care about Liza anymore? And what is Ade doin' having sex with a ref girl? All the while the immigration clock is ticking down. Giving voice to the dispossessed and capturing the hopes and heartbreak of our young, Shamser Sinha is an exciting new voice in playwriting.

Our Review:

5 November 2012

Borders and fractions divide a group of Hackney teenagers in Shamsher Sinha's full-length professional debut, which unpicks the plight of young asylum seekers, immobilised by uncertainty and fear. Khadija is 18 buzzes with energy and originality, but lacks the depth that the issue requires.

Khadija (Aysha Kala) is a feisty 17 year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan, whose looming 18th birthday will determine her fate and status. She has befriended Liza (Katherine Rose Morley), a fellow asylum seeker from an unknown Eastern European country, who is caring for a sibling she passes off as her own child to aid her case.

With very little exposition we look on, uncomfortably, as both girls rely heavily on each other, navigating their way through a life that’s etched with tension and powerlessness.

Their desperate circumstances are complicated further by their romantic entanglements with Ade (Victor Alli) and Sam (Damson Idris). Interfering ...

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