Beau Ravn – The Strangers Case

Beau Ravn – Winner 15th Feb to 21st Feb 2026.

And now for something completely different… THE STRANGER’S CASE … as relevant today as when Sir Thomas More and William Shakespeare penned them together some 430 years ago; put to music. Background: The lyrics are a famous, impassioned plea for empathy towards immigrants, widely believed to be written by William Shakespeare for the collaborative play Sir Thomas More (c. 1596–1601). In this “Strangers’ Case” speech, More (as deputy sheriff) challenges rioting Londoners to imagine being forced out of their own country and treated with inhuman violence. The speech addresses “Evil May Day” (1517), where Londoners rioted against foreign immigrants. It forces the audience to consider the dehumanization of “strangers” and asks how they would feel if they were treated with such brutality. It serves as a, enduring argument for human rights and empathy, arguing that if they mistreat others, they are essentially proving that might makes right, and that their own lives are equally vulnerable. The lines describe the terror of having no place to call home, where people “whet their detested knives against your throats”. It challenges the hostile crowd to imagine being treated as less than human, or as if God did not make them, urging them to show compassion rather than “mountainish inhumanity” When the beat drops about halfway through, the music instantly connects us with the current world and what is happening around us today. I hope we can all still relate to it, despite being in the language of 16th Century Wm Shakespeare. Cheers.