Sonja Linden

Five insomniacs try to make it through the night. From dusk to dawn, they struggle with a crisis in their lives which they must resolve by morning. Increasingly conscious of their shortening futures and lengthening pasts, they fill their nights with distracting activities, desperate sleep techniques, evaluations of their lives, delusions, fears, panics and utter foolishness as they prepare to face the day. Five Characters in Search of a Good Night's Sleep was conceived in response to the current public-health crisis of insomnia, with 30% of the UK population suffering from some form of sleep disturbance. It was created through a series of workshops, and first produced by ViSiBLE Theatre Ensemble at Southwark Playhouse, London, in 2022, directed by acclaimed director Mike Alfreds. ViSiBLE is dedicated to creating performance work that throws fresh perspectives on later life and living longer. Their work is created collaboratively, drawing on the creativity and talent of Britain's huge wealth of experienced older actors. The play is a fascinating insight into a condition that is widely experienced but little understood, and will provide valuable material for other actors – especially older ones – to perform.

• A play about history, identity and migration. • Originally produced by Visible Ensemble Theatre Company, who explore the issues that affect older people in the UK. A kaleidoscope of stories about war, displacement, revolution and liberation taking us on an emotional journey across three continents. Based on the actors' personal and family experiences, the stories interweave and overlap, exploring moments of joy, sadness and laughter set against key historical events over the last hundred years. Poignant, moving, funny, inspiring, this is the first piece of work created by the Visible, a new ensemble, dedicated to putting older performers and their rich lives centre stage.

• A wide-ranging collection of plays by women dealing with contemporary subjects such as child abuse, recession, war, poverty and the complexity of modern women's lives. • Many roles for women and girls; suitable for study for performance or as part of courses in Women's Studies or Feminist Theatre Studies. • All the plays have been produced and performed in the UK to acclaim.

"Scars are like medals. They show we have taken part in the life." Crocodile Seeking Refuge is the second play to be inspired by author Sonja Linden's writing residency at The Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture.

Inspired by the experiences of refugees in the UK, and set in a refugee centre in London, I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given To Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda, is a funny and moving story about the bittersweet relationship between a I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document.... (Production shot; Finborough Theatre) young Rwandan woman and a British poet as he tries to help her write her story. Juliette is a young Rwandan asylum seeker, determined to write a book on the genocide that killed her family; Simon is a poet whose job is to help people write. I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document... was a Time Out Critics' Choice and was broadcast by BBC World Service as well as touring nationally and internationally. Following a London run and National UK tour, the play received its American premiere at Kansas City Rep in March 2005 and has subsequently gone on to receive more than 30 productions across the US.