A play about the lives of gay Iraqi refugees will premiere in London after a critically acclaimed run in Edinburgh.

Inspired by interviews of gay Iraqi refugees who fled the mass killings in their homeland to Syria, Elegy is described as a 'poetic love letter' to the victims of homophobic murders in the troubled Gulf country.

Using images of refugees by photojournalist Bradley Seckler, the play runs from Battersea’s Theatre503 between 9 October and 3 November.

A spokesman for theater company Transport/a summerday said: 'Told from the viewpoint of one who got away, Elegy is a moving and extraordinary story of love, loss and exile; a journey through a no-man’s land of empty train stations, border crossings and bomb-blasted towns. 

'Performed on a bed of 700 items of discarded men’s clothing, the play confronts the reality of over 700 homophobic murders at the hands of militia groups in so-called "liberated" Iraq.'