Expendable

＂People kept saying there’s no smoke without fire, but it’s not our fire is it khala? it’s like we’re just choking on all the fumes...＂

Between the 1990s and 2010s hundreds of young girls were sexually exploited in northern towns by gangs of predatory men.

Two sisters grapple with the impact on their community as the men around them are embroiled in a sexual abuse scandal.

Playwright Emteaz Hussain’s Expendable spotlights the often-overlooked voices of Pakistani women, delving into the shortcomings of law enforcement, politicians, and the media.

This edition was published to coincide with the world premiere at London’s Royal Court Theatre in November 2024.

Emteaz Hussain is a playwright and performance poet. She has worked nationally as a Workshop Practitioner within a wide range of statutory, community and voluntary settings. These included pupil referral units, primary and secondary schools, drug and alcohol projects, youth clubs, and Asian Women’s projects. A member of the Writers Guild of Great Britain, Writers in Prison Network, National Association of Writers in Education and British Actors Equity Association, she has toured nationally and internationally with Transglobal Underground, Fundamental, Hustlers HC and as ’Backing Poet’ for the Benjamin Zephaniah Band. Her first play, Sweet Cider, was produced in 2008 by Tamasha Theatre Company.