Like any great mystery thriller it begins with the reading of a will, in the office of a small-time family solicitor in a modern Western city. Nawal’s final wish for her twin children, Janine and Simon, is to solve the mystery of their origins. As they take up the challenge, the story plunges into the maelstrom what is perhaps Lebanon but could be anywhere from North Africa to the Balkans.

Scorched is a thrilling leap of theatrical imagination. It’s like a kind of magic box which gives us a double vision of the world, of the comfort of love and family, and the strange familiarity of foreign fear and violence. For a country with such a problematic relationship to refugees, Scorched is a shout that echoes across the distances that separate us from the rest of the world.

It was written by one of the most acclaimed writers in the French speaking world. Wajdi Mouawad is a Lebanese-born, Paris-raised, French-Canadian, and he calls his work a quest for sense and beauty. We were delighted to introduce him to Australia.

Neil Armfield says, “I read Scorched and was totally floored. Then I read Khaled Hosseini’s The Kite Runner and it was like I was in the same world. I think this play is a masterpiece of contemporary world theatre.”