Shattered friendships, broken dreams, slapped faces (figuratively and otherwise) . . . doesn’t this sound like some very good content ingredients for a play?

Detained tells the story of Bea (Laura Lovemore) and Yemi, (Titana Mithui) two besties who work in the same restaurant. But their friendship is blown apart when we learn that Bea’s boyfriend has been frying his omelettes in two pans at the same time.

No, Michelle Chantelle Hopewell’s play isn’t as obvious to suggest that the philanderer has been playing around with Yemi. Yemi is an innocent. But Bea’s response to her discovery is frightening and has life-changing consequences for her chum. “Bea decides to call the police and report this ‘cow’ who has been sh***ing her boyfriend,” says Lovelace.

But when the police are called, they ask to check the immigration status of all the workers in the restaurant. “Bea knows that when this happens, the lassie who’s been having sex with her boyfriend is an illegal immigrant – and is likely to be sent to jail and deported. But because Bea is so naïve, so stupid, she doesn’t factor in that the police ask to see the immigration papers of all the black people who work there. And this includes Yemi.”

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Yemi, Bea learns, is an illegal immigrant and unwittingly, she has wrecked her life. And the reality confrontation takes place at the detention centre where home truths hit the wall like dinner plates during a prison canteen riot.

Can the friendship ever be repaired? Does Bea truly understand the impact of what she’s done?

Laura Lovemore, who grew up in Glasgow, says it was demanding to find the character of Bea, given that she is an incredibly flawed, and naïve woman. “I don’t have her value system,” she says.

“It was tricky to get inside the head of someone who is so lacking in self-awareness. When we went into rehearsals I tried to play her with a degree of sympathy, trying to give her redeeming qualities. But when we talked it out, I realised that she’s just a stupid cow who’s wrapped up in her own world.”

The actor adds: “I had to get into the mind of someone who is seeing the world through one lens. I had to take my own logic and analysis and suspend that. Bea prioritises herself over anyone else. She doesn’t realise that black people in Scotland don’t all live in lovely homes and are under no pressure to survive. She thinks all black people are the same. These women have the same race, but they’re not the same people. It’s the way she has been brought up.”

What the play does cleverly, says Lovemore, is highlight to audiences that black people shouldn’t be allowed to fall into stereotypes. “Yes, they are close friends,” she says of Bea and Yemi, “but they come from very different backgrounds. Bea is privileged and doesn’t see colour in the same way. And she doesn’t understand that Yemi’s background of poverty has meant that she sees the world through a very different lens.”

There is no doubt that Lovelace can empathise with the plight of Yemi. “I have lots of friends who are immigrants, and I’m an immigrant,” she explains. “We came from Zimbabwe when I was young and obviously, we went through the immigration system.”

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Growing up in a housing scheme near Possilpark in north Glasgow, the family had little money. “We left everything behind in Zimbabwe,” she explains, “but when you compare lives, right now I feel I’ve won the lottery. I actually feel privileged. I get to share a flat with my pal.”

When did the acting dream kick in? “I used to dislike myself as a wean,” says Lovemore in entirely honest voice. “I didn’t know how to assimilate into this culture. So, there was this mad identity crises going on in my head as a wean. And I didn’t know how to be African, with no African culture around me.” She reflects for a second. “I guess it was easy to be other characters. And when I tried acting it felt so great to go on stage and be someone else.”

She adds, smiling. “Acting is like having the crispest, most delicious glass of Sauvignon Blanc. It’s also stressful, and it demands lots of emotions, but it really works my brain.”

Lovemore, who has starred in the Vagina Monologues with Dundee Rep and has a Masters degree in Theatre, is now excited about the chance to bring Bea to life on the stage. “It’s a fantastic play,” she says. “You feel the tension right from the start. And it’s so accurate, it’s triggering. And it highlights that we don’t see different variations of black people on stage. This story is really interesting in that we get to step into the world, an easy world, of a black person who doesn’t have to react to racism.”

And there must be great delight in playing such a wicked, revengeful woman. Releasing, perhaps a very, very tiny slice of her own character? “Tee hee,” she says, laughing.

Detained, A Play Pie and a Pint, Oran Mor, Glasgow from Monday to Saturday.