A Half Moon production
Available for booking for performances between 18 November – 7 December 2026.
For more information contact Bradley Travis | 020 7709 8902 or bradley@halfmoon.org.uk
Bones in the Desert
Berlin, 2022. Artur’s a 19-year-old refugee who’s stuck in a city that doesn’t feel like home, trapped between worlds, conflicting roles and by the ghosts of his desperate escape from the Syrian civil war. His only release is a dead-end job washing dishes, where the casual racism of the customers makes him invisible.
Then someone from his journey shows up: Hagop. Same age, same trauma, same questions. What begins as a joyful reunion becomes a reckoning with identity, with memory and with the question of how to be free.
From the deserts of 1915 to the chaos of today, Bones in the Desert explores the legacy of genocide and the lives it still touches. With raw honesty and urgency, it also confronts mental well-being, racism in contemporary Europe and the cost of silence.
Written by British-Armenian playwright Joe Nerssessian, this powerful new play speaks directly to young adult audiences with heart, humour and an unflinching gaze. It’s about where we come from, who we carry with us and what it means to belong.
Threading together forgotten massacres and modern-day violence, it weaves a haunting, cross-generational tapestry of loss, inheritance and the quiet rebellion of those who choose to speak.
Presented in an immersive style with a pulsating contemporary soundtrack, Bones in the Desert is the latest production from Half Moon, the UK’s leading small-scale young people’s venue and touring company. Previous productions for teenagers include Hot Orange and the award-winning Daytime Deewane.
The production is directed by Chris Elwell.
About Joe Nerssessian
Joe Nerssessian is a British-Armenian writer who grew up by the seaside in Kent, detached from the global Armenian diaspora. After several years searching for connection with his heritage, he moved to Armenia in 2018 where he worked as a journalist and teacher. Upon returning to the UK, he studied for an MA in Creative Writing at the University of Kent. He writes both fiction and creative non-fiction, exploring subjects including death, grief, inherited trauma, as well as Armenia and the Armenian Genocide – of which his grandfather was a survivor. He is currently based in Berlin.
Discover more about JoeImages, trailers and assets
A promotional image for Bones in the Desert is available for the show at the Dropbox link below.
Production photos and a trailer will be released in November 2026. Other promotional assets will be released in due course.
A full play script is available to read on request.
Download images and PR assetsAbout our work
Our productions don’t educate, as such, advocating instead that there are not always correct answers or solutions when talking about or addressing prejudice, social injustices, equality and social inclusion.
Like any good story, Brave Bettie allows the audience to join up their own dots, think creatively and ask questions so they can discover their own answers to complex issues, even at a very early age through, experiencing a high-quality theatre adventure.
Show information
-
- For 1 or 2 shows per day.
- London: £850+VAT
- All other locations: £950+VAT
- Please enquire for prices when booking multiple days.
- Note for venues at very long distances from London, an additional supplement of £100 per day may apply. Note venues that require a get-in the day before may be subject to a fee supplement. Please enquire.
- Please note that these fees are subject to a small additional supplement if your venue makes a compulsory contra for costs at the contracting stage that were not agreed at the time of booking (e.g. credit card/box office; get-in/out; marketing/brochure contributions).
-
- Performances last 60 mins (no interval)
- There is a post performance Q&A that takes place immediately after the performance ends, in the same performing space (20 mins max).
- If a 2 show day is booked, a minimum of 2.5 hours between the start of shows is required (e.g. 4.30pm & 7pm).
-
- Venue Specification: Full blackout required. No auditorium seating used. Flat floor (or open pros-arch stage where audience can stand) with minimum of 8 metres by 6 metres footprint. The audience is within this floor space footprint. Capacity limited to 80 for the minimum area, maybe increased if extra floor space available.
- Setting: Black box theatre presentation. No wing space required.
- Get-in / Out: Maximum 3 hours prior to the performance start time and 1 hour after audience have cleared.
- Lighting / Sound: Lighting and sound are operated from within the floor area as part of the action by our SM. We tour with 4 LX stands and 4 speaker stands which are positioned in each corner. All equipment is toured. There is no requirement for the in-house P.A. Lighting control is a toured via Nomad so a DMX connection to the house dimmers is required to control the venue pre-rigged items that are part of the lighting design (expected to be 1 or 2 overheads only).
- Venue technical staff: 1 venue tech from get in required.
- Parking: For a long wheel-based crew van.
- Facilities: Secure dressing room for 2 performers ideally with an ironing board and access to hot and cold water and toilet facilities.
-
- Dedicated support from the marketing/PR and technical team at Half Moon, including accessible formats and touring riders.
- Up to 500 A5 colour flyers and 20 A3 colour posters. (NB: overprinting will be at an additional cost, please enquire).
- Images/production photos and other digital assets for use within venue brochures or broader usage.
- We can provide assets for venues/partners to make their own print etc. if that is preferred.
-
We are able to offer a range of bespoke creative learning activities for schools and family groups on the themes of the performance and/or the creation of original theatre, plus CPD workshops for teachers. This is available at additional costs. Please enquire for prices.
Reviews of previous Half Moon productions for this age range
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “I left the theatre grinning, exhilarated by superb performances, intricate and vibrant writing and energised by the buoyant, pulsating beat. But I was also delighted at the sight of so many joyful teenagers who had just quietly been educated about a little bit of brown-skinned rebellion. Tell me again how theatre for children is the easy stuff.”
“Once again Half Moon has produced a vital piece of work for teenage audiences that is engaging and relatable”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ “Brave, bold, provocative and lyrical…. his smouldering immersive production is an important and exploratory tale of teenage love…. Exquisitely crafted, brave and beautiful…just extraordinary”
“Half Moon have produced a work that is socially and politically relevant and which resonates on a personal level. This is the kind of storytelling in Theatre that makes funding for the Arts so important and makes attending theatre so rewarding and informing”
Bradley Travis | 020 7709 8902 or bradley@halfmoon.org.uk
More from Half Moon