Miss Brexit

Director and senior lecturer, Amaia Mugica, has secured Arts Council England funding to redevelop the award-winning play Miss Brexit, scheduling a new run in Manchester. Co-directed by Amaia Mugica and Alejandro Postigo, this satire explores migrant identity in post-Brexit Britain through an innovative lens: a competition where only one European contestant will win the right to remain in the UK.

Originally developed as a student project in just three weeks, Miss Brexit emerged from the lived experiences of its international cast and co-directors, all of whom share the perspective of being migrant artists from audible minority groups. The play has already garnered acclaim, winning two awards while touring European festivals.

Set in a post-Brexit England, Miss Brexit takes the form of a beauty pageant where European contestants compete for the ultimate prize: the right to remain in the UK. But this is no ordinary competition – to be crowned Miss Brexit, these ambitious contestants must systematically erase their cultural identities, perfect their British accents, and prove they can become the most convincing version of a British version of themselves. As they compete for the right to stay, each contestant faces the heart-wrenching choice between authentic self-expression and survival in their adopted home. Through this humoristic and satirical lens, the production exposes the pressures faced by migrants to conform to an idealised British identity, all while fighting for their place in a post-Brexit world.