Monday, October 13, 2008
Put on a play, promote human rights!
Do you want to raise awareness of what refugees and asylum seekers face? Want to make sure people get the message?! Read on for more details…
Actors for Human Rights, iceandfire theatre’s outreach network, is dedicated to drawing public attention to a range of human rights concerns, including refugee and asylum seeker issues. The actors and musicians involved donate their time and their public profile to encourage public acceptance of human rights and to give voice to people whose basic human rights have been violated.
They respond to requests for rehearsed readings of their documentary plays and can go anywhere at anytime. All language used in the scripts is recorded from real life. Interview and court trial transcripts, print media articles and broadcast transcripts, recordings of live speeches and public hearings and relevant facts and statistics are all used to create a script about actual, rather than imaginary, events.
This is an amazing opportunity to raise awareness of the issues facing asylum seekers and to really make people think! The performances are simple and moving and will provide a great focus for any event.
Their flagship production, Asylum Monologues is a first-hand account of the UK’s asylum system in the words of people who have experienced it. With personal testimony from asylum seekers combined with public opinion, political statements and statistical facts, this production disseminates what it really means to be displaced in the UK. It was launched in London at Amnesty International in June 2006 and has been on a rolling tour around the country ever since.
Asylum Dialogues was launched in conjunction with national refugee charity Refugee Action during Refugee Week 2008 in Derby, London, Liverpool and Bristol. This new script highlights some of the many acts of solidarity shown by British people towards asylum seekers living alongside them. Drawn from real life conversations with three couples – one an asylum seeker and the other a British citizen – this play explores the positive transformations created by their encounters with each other. Read a STAR review of the play.
Visit their website to find out where they are performing next, or to book a performance at your STAR group or university. All you have to do is find a venue, get 50 people along and cover costs for the actors to get to you!
Posted by STAR team on 13/10/2008 at 12:31 PM
