Hard-hitting play Mogadishu takes place in an inner city London school, in which a teacher, Amanda, is accused of racial harassment by one of the pupils.

When white secondary school teacher Amanda is pushed to the ground by black student Jason, she is reluctant to report him as she knows exclusion could condemn him to a future as troubled as his past. But Jason can protect himself, and with a story of his own he drags Amanda into a vortex of lies in which victim becomes perpetrator and where the truth is somewhere between public and private, black and white.

Mogadishu was one of the four joint first prize winners in the most recent Bruntwood Playwriting Competition and was recently announced as the winner of the 2010 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright.

Mogadishu is the first play by Vivienne Franzman who is a drama teacher in a comprehensive school in London.

Matthew Dunster directs an exciting young cast in Mogadishu, many of whom will be making their professional debuts. Dunster’s previous credits include Love The Sinner (National Theatre), 1984, Macbeth (both Royal Exchange, Manchester), You Can See The Hills (Royal Exchange, Manchester/Young Vic), The Frontline, Troilus And Cressida (Shakespeare’s Globe) and the Laurence Olivier Award-nominated Love And Money (Young Vic/Royal Exchange, Manchester).

Mogadishu is suitable for theatregoers aged 14 and older.

For more about Mogadishu at the Lyric Hamersmith read the First Night Feature.