Becoming Anglo: the creation of <i>Miss Brexit</i>

Post-Brexit England presents international theatre artists with the challenge of negotiating their foreignness, often dictated by their speech patterns and cultural knowledge as second-language users. This reality was particularly acute for a cohort of English as an Additional Language (EAL) acting graduates trained in UK drama programmes, who devised Miss Brexit, a satirical performance interrogating the pressures of linguistic and cultural assimilation in the British theatre industry. Miss Brexit staged a high-stakes contest in which European contestants navigate absurd challenges that morph national stereotypes into British myths, with the ultimate prize being the right to remain in the UK and pursue the Anglo-American dream. The show examined the precarious balance between survival and self-erasure, asking: Who can truly erase their cultural identity to fit a British mould? And what does this reveal about the expectations placed upon migrant performers? By centring performers whose first language is not English, some presenting intersectional identities, the show exposes the implicit hierarchies within performer training and the industry at large. It explores how actors trained in a UK context must navigate accent bias, linguistic gatekeeping, and the burden of cultural translation. This article highlights Miss Brexit as a case study in performer training, showcasing how additional-language actors creatively resist pressures of assimilation while leveraging their multilingualism as an artistic asset. With the support of Arts Council England, Miss Brexit continues to generate discourse on the realities of EAL performers, amplifying their visibility and advocating for a more inclusive training landscape.