A False Friend

A False Friend centres on a state-funded experiment and the damage it leaves behind—tracing unchecked power, complicity, and the long psychological fallout of systemic abuse.

What happens when progress requires a victim?

Genre

Drama

Form

Full Length

In development — ACE R&D application submitted.

Director: Llyrio Boateng

Highly Commended by the National Theatre National Theatre.  BBC Writersroom  Top 10%. Alfred Fagon Llyrio Boateng, A False Friend, Alfred Fagon Award longlist, Alfred Fagon Award 2025, Black British playwrights, British theatre, new writing recognition, emerging playwright, contemporary playwriting, UK stage, theatre award longlist Award, Best New Play Longlist.

Llyrio Boateng

A fierce need to confront how the state weaponises bureaucracy pushed me to write A False Friend. It’s rooted in the ways progress is used as a cover for exploiting the vulnerable.

—Llyrio Boateng

Llyrio Boateng is available to discuss the work as writer or writer-director.

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Llyrio Boateng has been selected to join the Watersprite Hubs 2025 Cohort, supported by the Victoria Wood Foundation. The programme brings together emerging filmmakers from across the UK for a day of development workshops, mentorship, and industry networking, taking place at HOME in Manchester this November.
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Llyrio Boateng Selected for Watersprite Hubs 2025

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