LIGHTSTREAMS

About the show

They left everything behind to be told they don’t belong. Maurice and Hermia are a migrant couple who have made their home in the UK. Maurice is proud of his work as a care worker in an elderly care home, while Hermia struggles with motherhood and caring for their two-year-old son alone. When a global crisis forces Maurice to live full-time in the care home where he works, he is torn between caring for vulnerable residents and being there for his own family. Among those residents is Darya, a woman in her late seventies whose migrant background reminds Maurice of his own family. Four years later, with further restrictions looming for migrant care workers, Maurice and Hermia are forced to confront the choices they’ve made and the sacrifices they’ve endured. Developed through interviews with migrant health and social care workers across London, Essex and the South East, Lightstreams gives voice to the human stories behind migration and care. An intimate, powerful and compassionate new play about family, racism, mental health, sacrifice, resilience and belonging. When society asks so much of those who care for us, who cares for the carers?