Lament for Sheku bayoh at National Theatre of Scotland

A young black man lost his life. Five years ago. In police custody. In Scotland.

Soon after 7am, on a Sunday morning - May 3rd, 2015, Sheku Bayoh, a 31 year-old gas engineer, husband and father of two died in Police custody on the streets of his home town Kirkcaldy, Fife.

Bayoh's family launched a campaign seeking justice and in 2019 a judge-led inquiry was announced to determine the manner of his death and whether actual or perceived race had played a part in it.

Lament for Sheku Bayoh is a personal response to this tragedy, an expression of grief for the loss of the human behind the headlines and a non-apologetic reflection on identity and racism in Scotland today.

Performed live at The Lyceum and streamed to you at home. Lament for Sheku Bayoh asks the urgent question, is Scotland really a safe place?

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY HANNAH LAVERY

A National Theatre of Scotland, Edinburgh International Festival and Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh co-production

Lament for Sheku Bayohwas originally commissioned and presented as a rehearsed reading by the Lyceum Theatre, supported by the Edinburgh International Festival as part of the 2019 International Festivals You Are Here strand.