True stories of asylum lie behind Lizzie Nunnery’s new play, she tells Laura Davis

SEVEN refugees shared their stories of escape from Zimbabwe with playwright Lizzie Nunnery, but it was one in particular that caught her imagination.

A man in his early 30s, forced to flee his country with his family for fear of death.

He is not the character in her new play, The Swallowing Dark, but his experiences helped shape it – his memories of a place so bountiful that suddenly turned nasty.

“It was invaluable,” says Nunnery, whose work will relaunch the Liverpool Playhouse Studio next month.

“I couldn’t really have written the play without him because he gave me so much detail about what it’s like to live in Zimbabwe – good and bad.”

The Liverpool playwright began researching the subject of asylum back in 2008. The subject was suggested by Suzanne Bell, the theatres’ literary manager, while the charity, Refugee Action, introduced her to Zimbabwean asylum seekers living in Liverpool.

“I just found their stories so fascinating and, within them, the idea of transformation became really interesting to me – the idea of Zimbabwe as this country that had transformed so quickly from a rich, vibrant place, called the Breadbasket of Africa, to somewhere where the economy had completely collapsed, where there was such an atmosphere of fear and so many people needing refuge abroad.”

She found a parallel between the changes in the African country and in the lives of its people, forced to flee their homes.