Cultivate: Leave to Remain

This rehearsed reading is brought to you by CULTIVATE, Riverside Studios' new programme bringing the best of brand-new theatre to the stage for the first time. These plays have been carefully selected by Riverside Studios team as showing exceptional promise.

Leave To Remain tells the story of Aïssatou, a Senegalese young woman raised in London since the age of eight, whose life is thrown into crisis when she receives a 14-day deportation order from the Home Office. After years of building a life in the UK, the future she has fought for begins to unravel. As she and her boyfriend Jay race against time to appeal the decision, buried truths about her family, her past, and the sacrifices made to survive come to light. 

The play follows Aïssatou’s journey as she navigates her identity and the relationships that shape her, including her mother, her boyfriend, and the legacy of her abusive father. Jay believes he can save her; Aïssatou knows the situation is more complicated than that. 

The play interrogates family secrets and the specific cruelty of a system that forces you to construct a life it can snatch away in an instant. A story about immigration, family, love, and the impossible choices people make when survival comes at a cost. 

Age recommendation: 16+

CULTIVATE is a programme for theatre writers who are typically underrepresented in the theatre industry, we rely on generous donations from our patrons to keep the programme alive, if you are interested in making a donation, you can do so here.