Inua Ellams wins Liberty Human Rights Award

Inua Ellams has been awarded the Liberty Human Rights Award for his one-man show, An Evening with an Immigrant.

The piece, which examines Ellams' own history and the UK’s complex relationship with immigration, premiered at Soho Theatre in 2015 gaining a five-star review from WhatsOnStage's Matt Trueman, and has since toured the UK.

The Nigerian-born playwright and poet – whose most recent work, Barber Shop Chronicles returns to the National Theatre next month – received Liberty’s Human Rights Arts Award at a ceremony at the Royal Court last night.

Commenting on the prize, Ellams said: "The point of the show, how it works, is to subtly demonstrate that behind the attention-grabbing negative headlines about mass migration – where immigrants such as myself and my family are described as cockroaches, job stealers, scroungers, thieves and freeloaders – are everyday ordinary folks who have had to leave their country and do the best they can to live with those they love.

"This right to live, to a safe family life, is a human one and however complicated our communities become, however dark or treacherous a political or social climate, those human rights are worth protecting."

Martha Spurrier, director of Liberty, said: "In an era of divisive anti-migrant rhetoric, discriminatory law-making and rising hate crime, Inua gave us a glimpse into the real lives behind the headlines. He has opened people's minds to a new perspective – no doubt putting many on a path to activism."

Liberty was founded in 1934 and campaigns for everyone in the UK to be treated fairly, with dignity and respect.