Insane Asylum Seekers

About

“At 27, my dad had escaped multiple bloodthirsty dictatorships. I’m 27, I had a panic attack watching the final episode of ‘Succession’.”

Laith is in serious trouble- but he can’t tell you why. He’s spent years keeping a secret, perfecting the art of hiding it.

But now, it’s catching up with him.

And as if that weren’t enough, Laith’s mum won’t stop throwing things at seagulls, and his dad keeps wandering off during life-threatening situations.

Laith’s parents escaped Iraq 30 years ago, which he reckons is the reason he’s in this whole mess to begin with.

Side-splittingly funny and deeply moving, Insane Asylum Seekers explores the complexities of the British-Iraqi refugee experience. Written by Laith Elzubaidi and directed by Olivier Award-nominee Emily Ling Williams (A Playlist for the Revolution), this is the world premiere production of the 2023 Tony Craze Award-winner.

A Camille Koosyial production in association with Bush Theatre.

If you would like to be added to our waiting list, please email boxoffice@bushtheatre.co.uk with your preferred date, a contact number, and let us how many tickets you would like.

With thanks to Counterpoints and Refugee Week for their generous support.

“This show is worth the hype”

– Broadway World

Cast & Creatives

Tommy Sim’aan

Cast Member

Tommy Sim’aan plays Laith. Tommy is a multi-disciplined British-Iraqi-Belgian actor who graduated from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2020. He speaks French, Spanish and Arabic, is a skilled martial…

Read More

Tommy Sim’aan

Cast Member

Tommy Sim’aan plays Laith.

Tommy is a multi-disciplined British-Iraqi-Belgian actor who graduated from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 2020.

He speaks French, Spanish and Arabic, is a skilled martial artist with strong movement, combat and sword skills, and a multi-instrumentalist and singer, playing the violin, piano and guitar.

His theatre credits include: The Fear of 13 (Donmar); A View from the Bridge (Headlong); The Tempest (RSC); Starcrossed (Arden Entertainment) for which he was nominated for ‘Best Performer in a Play’ at The Stage Debut Awards 2022; UK tour of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (Tilted Wig Productions).

His on-screen credits include: Vigil (Series 2); Doctors (BBC) and; The Midwich Cuckoos (Sky).

His radio and voiceover credits include: Tethered, Sabine, The Medici and Two on a Tower (BBC Radio 4); The Al-Hamlet Summit, Words and Music (BBC Radio 3) and the video games Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, Baldurs Gate 3 and Expeditions: Rome.

Laith Elzubaidi

Writer

Laith Elzubaidi

Writer

Laith Elzubaidi is a British-Iraqi screenwriter, playwright and community organiser based in London. Laith’s Tony Craze Award-winning play Insane Asylum Seekers was produced at the Bush Theatre for a month-long run in May 2025, directed by Olivier Award-nominated director Emily Ling Williams, and is now transferring to the main house of the Bush Theatre in February 2027. The production became the fastest-selling show in the history of the Bush Theatre Studio, selling out its entire run within two weeks.

He is now developing a TV adaptation of the show with production company The Story Collective. Laith is currently writing a feature film for Imaginarium Productions and is under a seed commission for his latest play with Good Chance Theatre. Previously, he has participated in writers rooms for the BBC’s Bad Education and BAFTA-award winning Crongton.

Laith is the founder of the British-Arab Writers Group, a collective of over 250 Arab writers based in the UK. The group organises writers’ rooms, industry talks, workshops, and social events, fostering a sense of community and shared growth. Laith’s recent achievements include being selected for the BBC Comedy Collective Supercharged Bursary Scheme, which included a prize of £15k and paid shadowing opportunities on BBC productions’ writers rooms; and winning a bursary at the Screenshot Showcase produced by Sister Pictures and SOTR Productions.

He also produces the viral online show Food I Can’t Read, where his friend Faz eats food he can’t read. It has inexplicably racked up over 50 million total views since the show’s launch in 2025.
Emily Ling Williams

Director

Emily Ling Williams

Director

Emily Ling Williams’ work has been nominated for an Olivier Award and she was the recipient of the 2023 Stage Debut Award for Best Director.

As Director: No Such Thing As Wolves (Birmingham Hippodrome); Romeo & Juliet (Stratford East); Insane Asylum Seekers, A Playlist For The Revolution (Bush Theatre); Sam Wu is NOT Afraid of Ghosts (Polka Theatre); More Ghost Stories by Candlelight (Hightide/ Globe Theatre); Polko (Roundabout); Wasted (Lyric Hammersmith); The Full Works; The Key Workers Cycle (Almeida), text me when you’re home; 5 Plays (Young Vic); The Watsons, Her Naked Skin, Appropriate, The Sign In Sidney Brustein’s Window (RWCMD); Turbines (Paines Plough/ RWCMD/ Gate Theatre).

As Assistant/Associate Director: Small Hotel (Theatre Royal Bath); A View From The Bridge (Headlong/ Octagon/ CFT/ Rose); The House Of Shades (Almeida); Blood Wedding (Young Vic), The Meeting, The Chalk Garden (CFT), Black Mountain, Out Of Love, How To Be A Kid (Paines Plough/ Theatr Clwyd/ Orange Tree); The Apology, The Island Nation (Arcola).
Camille Koosyial

Producer

Camille Koosyial

Producer

Camille Koosyial is a dynamic and passionate theatre producer dedicated to creating impactful, socially driven work. She is currently a Producer with LUNG Theatre, a Barnsley-based verbatim theatre company known for its politically charged productions and community-driven storytelling.

Recent LUNG productions include the critically acclaimed The Children’s Inquiry, Woodhill, Who Cares, and Trojan Horse. Camille also supports LUNG’s national engagement campaigns, such as The Who Cares Campaign, advocating for young carers, and The Roaring 20s, providing pathways for young creatives in Harrow and Wigan.

Camille also works as a Producer with Pigfoot Theatre, a carbon-conscious theatre company creating work about the climate crisis with minimal environmental impact. Their recent productions include the national tour of HOT IN HERE and How to Save a Rock. Alongside producing, Camille consults on sustainability practices within the arts sector.

Her extensive producing credits include: work on Alice In Wonderland (2024); Fertile (2024); and Hot In Here (remount). She has also collaborated with leading venues and companies such as Brixton House, The Park Theatre, and The Gate. Camille is deeply committed to platforming underrepresented voices, championing sustainability in theatre, and supporting groundbreaking new work.
Riwa Saab

Sound Designer

Riwa Saab

Sound Designer

Riwa Saab is a theatre-maker and sound designer. She studied Performance and Creative Enterprise at Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Her theatre credits include: Vitamin D (Soho); Succession Theme is My Ringtone (Rose); Every Leaf a Hallelujah (Regent’s Park Open Air); A Guest (Vaults Festival); Babel (Camden People’s); Redbrick (Jermyn Street); Maryland (National Youth and Riverside Studios); Butterflies of Life (Jermyn Street and Pleasance).

Theatre credits as associate: The Bolds (Unicorn) and; Human Nurture (Theatre Centre, UK Tour).

Podcast credits: Sugar Shots.

Short Films: A proCura que vai chegar (Instituto de Criar, São Paulo)
Gillian Tan

Lighting and Video Designer

Gillian Tan

Lighting and Video Designer

Gillian Tan is a multi-disciplinary designer, working across lighting and video for various theatrical, immersive and interactive experiences.

Theatre credits include: Mind Mangler (Apollo, New York, Virgin Cruises, UK Tour); Elephant and A Playlist for the Revolution (Bush); South Pacific (Chichester Festival, Sadlers Wells & UK Tour); The Last Five Years and Threads (Singapore Rep); FAGHAG and Who Do You Love (Edinburgh Fringe); Sam Wu Is NOT Afraid of Ghosts (Polka) The Mystery of Little Angel Theatre; Please Do Not Touch (China Plate); Cabaret Royale (Gaillard Center, Charleston USA); The Body Remembers, Black Love; Really Big & Really Loud, Cinderella – The Awesome Truth, Alyssa, Memoirs of A Queen (Vaudeville); Aisha and Abhaya (Royal Ballet/Rambert); Majestique; The Song Project – Is In Our Blood (Royal Court); 4.48 Psychosis (revival. Lyric Hammersmith/Royal Opera House); La Soirée (Aldwych/Southbank Centre/Skråen); Coraline (Barbican/Royal Opera House); Tamburlaine; Invisible Treasure; Crocodiles (Royal Exchange, Manchester).

Film credits: NYX and Gazelle Twin Present: Deep England, a performance film by Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard; Held Momentarily (RAM).

Recipient of the Unreal Engine Fellowship & founding member of Rising Waves (BESEA mentorship scheme).
Liam Bunster

Set and Costume Designer

Liam Bunster

Set and Costume Designer

Liam Bunster is a London based Set and Costume Designer working in theatre, opera and film. Originally training as an Architect, he has since completed a postgraduate degree in Set and Costume Design at RADA and was recently resident Associate Designer at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Liam received a Stage Debut Award nomination in 2020 for his work on The Taming of the Shrew for the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse.

Recent Theatre work includes: As You Like It (RSC); Playlist for the Revolution (Bush); Sam Wu is NOT Afraid of Ghosts (Polka); The Taming of the Shrew (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, The Globe); John Gabriel Borkman (Bridge Theatre); House of Shades (Almeida); Rent, Catch Me If You Can, Sweeney Todd (ArtsEd); The Comedy of Errors, Road, Intimate Apparel, Opera Makers (Guildhall School of Music and Drama); Small Change (Omnibus); Twist (Staatstheater Mainz, Germany); Donal the Numb (Vaults Festival); Flare Path (Royal Central School of Speech and Drama); Lady Macwata (Applecart Arts); Macbeth – Playmaking Festival (Royal Shakespeare, RSC); Yokes Night (Gerry’s,Royal Stratford East); Dead or Alive (Swan,RSC); Veterans Day (Finborough).
Chloe Stally-Gibson

Production Manager

Chloe Stally-Gibson

Production Manager

Chloe is a freelance production manager and former associate artist of Zoo Co Theatre Company and ChewBoy Productions.

Her recent work includes: Shifters (Bush & Duke of York’s); Punch, A Face In The Crowd (Young Vic); Perfect Show For Rachel (Barbican); Tender, This Might Not Be It, Insane Asylum Seekers (Bush); Playhouse Creatures (JCTP); Silence (Tara Theatre).
Euan Jackson

Associate Production Manager

Euan Jackson

Associate Production Manager
Rebecca Natalini

Company Stage Manager

Rebecca Natalini

Company Stage Manager

Rebecca Natalini graduated with a BA in Stage Management from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and she is very excited to be working at the Bush Theatre again, after her recent work on Lavender, Hyacinth, Violet, Yew.

Recent stage management theatre credits include: Pride and Prejudice, Scenes from RENT – A Staged Performance (Curve); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (New Diorama): Zoe’s Peculiar Journey Through Time (UK and Norway tour); Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) (UK tour).