In a small town in Syria, soldiers are celebrated as heroes and grieving families are nourished on propaganda.

As coffins pile up, a local party leader decides on a radical compensation scheme: a goat for each son martyred.

Goats is a major new work by Syrian playwright and documentary film-maker Liwaa Yazj, translated by Katharine Halls.

Developed as part of the Royal Court International Department's long-term project with writers from Syria and Lebanon, the play premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in the Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, on 24 November 2017, in a production directed by Hamish Pirie.

Liwaa Yazji is a Syrian playwright, filmmaker, screenwriter and poet. She was born in Moscow and grew up in Damascus. Her plays include Goats (Royal Court, 2017). She has published a volume of poetry, Peacefully We Leave Home, and was resident poet at Poets House, New York, in 2015 where her book Three Poems was published in English.