A renowned Iranian director is planning to put on a show with 80 cast members in a car park.

Hamid Pourazari has recruited refugees living in Croydon to perform in Unfinished Dream, commissioned by London International Festival of Theatre as part of Refugee Week.

The play is put together by refugees and volunteers over a series of workshops, before performing the piece in the Q Park in Surrey Street.

The 43-year-old was inspired to return to Croydon having visited last year and been amazed at the diversity in the borough.

He said: “The area looked so much like downtown Tehran where our theatre workshop is.

“It is very dynamic with lots of people from different backgrounds and ages.

“I felt very close to that and liked it.”

Following his work with marginalised communities in Tehran, Mr Pourazari wanted his new work to show a new side to refugees.

He said: “We want to emphasise the feelings of people and how they express their emotions.

“We want to throw open their imagination through their body language and movement.”

Few of the actors have any stage experience, and most are refugees from countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran.

Speaking through an interpreter, Mr Pourazari said he merely moulds the ideas of those involved, who are given a free reign with their creativity.

By the group getting to know each other through acting, each performer finds themselves and reveals a different side to the refugee, according to Mr Pourazari.

Setting the performance in the car park extends this theme, with the unfamiliarity prompting a new response from both performers and audience alike.

Mr Pourazari said: “In order to find ourselves in this new place we have to put in more energy which means we have to have more creativity.”

And the audience is drawn into the performance by journeying from Fairfield Halls, where the show is scheduled to begin, to the car park with the performers.

The show takes place between June 21 and July 1. Tickets are available at the Fairfield Halls box office.