Student-Led Theatre Shines Light on Sudanese Refugee Crisis and Raises £1,000 for Charity

A powerful new play written and performed by pupils at Bryanston School has raised £1,000 for the UNHCR, while giving audiences a moving insight into the experiences of Sudanese refugees, supported by an accompanying international food market featuring stalls from 16 different nationalities, which raised funds through food sales.

What Didn’t Happen, written by A3 (Lower Sixth) pupil Tuta H, was performed as part of the school’s A3 Festival, an annual pupil-led weekend celebrating creativity across the arts. The production, staged by members of the Lower Sixth, tackled the human cost of the Sudanese conflict through an intimate and emotionally charged narrative, alongside the festival’s lively community-focused fundraising initiative.

The play centres on Yasmeen, a Sudanese refugee living in the United States, who recounts her experiences during therapy sessions with an American therapist. Through raw dialogue and a series of poignant flashbacks, the audience was transported between Yasmeen’s present life in exile and her memories of pre-war Sudan, revealing what has been lost, including education, family milestones, security, and a home.

Intermittent scenes feature Yasmeen’s parents, Mohammed and Noor, highlighting the everyday joys and anxieties of family life before war shattered normality. Moments such as preparing for Eid, celebrating a pregnancy, and planning a future are juxtaposed with the brutal realities of conflict, displacement, and separation. One of the most harrowing sections recounts the death of Yasmeen’s unborn niece due to the collapse of medical infrastructure, underscoring the devastating civilian impact of war.

The production also confronts global complicity and indifference, including references to the funding of violence through international trade, and challenges Western perceptions of refugees. Yasmeen’s exchanges with her therapist evolve into a powerful critique of privilege, reframing the refugee experience not as an “exceptional” tragedy, but as the destruction of what should have been an ordinary life.

Audience members praised the play’s maturity and emotional depth, with many visibly moved by the performance. What Didn’t Happen demonstrated the power of youth-led theatre to engage with global issues, amplify marginalised voices, and inspire empathy and responsibility beyond the stage, strengthened by a wider celebration of culture and community that brought people together in support of those affected by conflict.