It's not always easy to find a play text to engage your students. Do you go for something critically acclaimed but that looks at elements of the world that may be, because of the nature of your school setting, more inaccessible to your students? Or for something new, a contemporary play that reflects the experiences and concerns of your learners? Of course, you want it to be theatrical. And gripping. I'm delighted to tell you that The EU killed my dad ticks a lot of these boxes.
The plot revolves around Berker, who is looking for a reunion with his estranged Turkish father. However, on arrival, his sister Elif tells him that he has come too late and that his father had been shot only the day before. The play then develops into a time-slip piece where Berker tries to understand what has happened to his father and the range of forces that led to his death. The work is linked together by two Kafkaesque investigators who ask the questions the audience might feel they want answered. When the characters speak in Turkish, playwright Aaron Kilercioglu has specified that the audience hears the English version, allowing accessibility for all.
The piece wanders through time, considering everything from the sensitivity of family relationships to the impact of political decisions about immigration have on the individual. Don't be put off by the alien lizard references; it will all be clear at the end!
The play won the Woven Voices Prize in 2023 and was first performed in January 2024 so it's really fresh. Consequently, this is a play I would consider giving to an A Level group as a stimulus for creating their own work. It's lively and pacy and has some engaging central characters with whom to empathise. There are some great speeches, in particular a monologue from a prisoner about the limitations of democracy when you need to eat. But it has some solid themes behind it, and requires some thought and reflection. The question here is – ‘Who kills Mustafa?’ but it acknowledges that the answer is far more complex than just finding the name of the person who pulled the trigger.