A young black man lost his life. Seven 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 an artistic 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.

Lament for Sheku Bayoh asks the urgent question, is Scotland really a safe place?

A recorded version of the production will be screened in cinemas on Tuesday 17 and Tuesday 24 January 2023.

There will be a Q&A following the screening at the Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh with Aamer Anwar and Hannah Lavery (Edinburgh Makar, and Writer and Director of Lament for Sheku Bayoh).

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

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

Development work supported by the Stephen W Dunn Creative Fund.