★★★★ “What makes this show fly are the touches added to make it a fundamentally human story, most notably when the script opens up ideas of a future that just might make it all worthwhile, somehow or other.” – Three Weeks ★★★★ “ Pizza Shop Heroes is a very skilled piece of theatre-making by one of the country’s leading applied theatre companies… It’s greatly important that many people see it… It is theatre for our future.” – Broadway Baby “Powerful, celebratory, affirming, authentic.” – What’s On Stage “An engaging event that sparked numerous discussions afterwards with the audience that informally joined them on stage.” – British Theatre Guide “An illuminating and innovative presentation of the asylum seeker’s journey… It will change your perception… It is a play that should be seen by all.” – North West End “All four are engaged, increasingly intelligent performers, knitted together by writer-director Dawn Harrison into an energetic, knockabout ensemble… It’s a genuine joy to see this company develop.” – The Stage “This is a show in which every performer is using their lived experiences to tell the story of what it is to be a male child travelling to England as a refugee… A beautiful piece of work.” – The Tung ★★★★★ “Fierce, bold, luminous… A resilient, defiant and utterly real reclamation of voices by a group so often ignored, misunderstood or spoken for.” – The Skinny ★★★★ “ Pizza Shop Heroes is the real deal – it’s not an artistic response to the theme of migration, but powerful, thought-provoking theatre with a purpose.” – Quays Life “An innovative piece of applied theatre… A powerful, dynamic and highly engaging piece of theatre… I genuinely found myself disappointed when it came to an end.” – She-Wolf Manchester I won’t order a pizza again without asking the Pizza-boy’s name.” – Mancunion We laugh, cry but, most importantly, we stand with them. “I felt enlightened to see a theatre piece – with intentions of spreading awareness about issues we need to know more about – resonate so strongly with audience members… This is a piece of theatre which should be seen by all. Powerful, celebratory, affirming, authentic this is theatre that puts refugees centre stage. From prisons in Libya and Greece to conversations with absent mothers to raising the next generation of sons. It’s a story of male and cultural identity, of family and fatherhood, a lyrical collage of memories, hopes, dreams and imagined realities.

They have told their ‘stories’ repeatedly to the Home Office as part of seeking asylum and it is the desire to reclaim these stories that grounds Phosphoros Theatre’s innovative work.įrom the precinct of a pizza shop we embark on a journey across time and continents to explore how they got here, where they’re going and what they’ve learnt along the way. This dynamic emerging company stars four refugee young men who made the arduous journey to the UK on their own as children from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Albania. I am not here to make your conscience feel better. You’re not here to judge if we’re credible or not. We’re going to tell you our stories how WE want to.

Shop heroes guide building