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The interview: Iceandfire Theatre

Written by Cherry Casey
Thursday, 23 April 2009 00:00

News of worldwide conflicts across the globe is delivered with such frequency that it is unsurprising, albeit despairing, that immunity to such tales can arise. Whether it be from an unwillingness to listen or a genuine inability to understand the horror that victims of political conflict undergo, there is a discernible gulf between that which is recognised and that which is understood. “Asylum seeker” is a term everybody knows. The persecution and torture that it refers to is often unknown or hidden. Political occurrences and personal consequences are easily considered as two very separate factions, and the chasm that lies between is often due to a complete lack of understanding. With their innovative use of theatrical art, Iceandfire Theatre seeks to render disembodied terms such as “refugees” into living, breathing human beings; individuals with faces, voices, bodies, families and stories.

Iceandfire’s primary endeavour is “to create compelling theatre that makes real and relevant the impact of human rights issues on our everyday lives.” Based on the genuine experiences of individuals, their productions deliver to the audience a message of the human struggle involved for those caught in the crossfire of war, totalitarianism and genocide. 

Founded in 2003 by playwright Sonja Linden, Iceandfire Theatre Company are based in London, but provide a wide range of performances throughout the country for an equally varied array of audiences. The company is comprised of four factions: “Production”, which refers to the various dramatic plays that are written by Linden and performed around the country; “Education” which focuses on workshops within schools and universities; “Participation” – the “Protect the Human” playwriting competition for artists; and “Outreach” -  Actors for Human Rights (AFHR).
 
AFHR deliver rehearsed readings of documentary plays to audiences throughout the UK and are used by various organisations as a means to raise awareness and campaign for human rights issues. Their productions are authentic scripts from the victims, read by volunteer actors.

I attended a performance of “Asylum Monologues” which was part of the Medecins Du Monde conference in London. Artistic Director of Iceandfire, and founder of AFHR, Christine Bacon and another volunteer actor read the script of two asylum seekers - Marjorie from Uganda and Olive from Rwanda. Unlike anything I had seen before, the “Asylum Monologues” had no stage setup, no costumes, and no props - just two women reading out the documented tales of extreme physical and emotional torment.

I asked Bacon a few questions about her work, tactics and aims.

Seven: I can see from the website that you have been an actor for many years, but also have postgraduate degrees in Political Science and Forced Migration. Did you initially have aspirations for acting or for working in human rights or was it always a combination?

CB: I trained as an actor initially and that's where my aspirations lay. However, the Australian government's treatment of asylum seekers arriving by boat in 2001 politicised me and I started joining campaigns including a newly formed group called Actors for Refugees, which I subsequently coordinated. Around that time, I also decided to do a postgraduate qualification in Political Science, then a Masters in Forced Migration at Oxford University and founding Actors for Human Rights over here was a natural way to combine the two.
   
Seven: How do you approach the asylum seekers in order to interview them, and are they always willing to offer their story?

CB: I am in regular contact with organisations that support asylum seekers and, as I see it as part of my job to keep up to date with what's going on policy-wise, I tend to personally meet many asylum seekers at campaign-related events. Often, once I've explained what we do, people offer to speak to me. Otherwise, I will ask contacts at various organisations whether they can help to facilitate an interview. I am very clear with the interviewee about what their testimony will be used for and they are never under any obligation to agree to an interview.
 
Seven: You charge very little for your productions; how does the business run?

CB: The performances are generally self-financing as the actors volunteer and we rely on host organisations to organise the venue and cover our travel and meal costs. The main cost of running the network is my salary, which is paid for by two major trusts, and project costs which are fundraised for on a case-by-case basis. As Actors for Human Rights is the outreach project of Iceandfire Theatre Company, office-related costs are covered by the company's core funds.
 
Seven: I saw Asylum Monologues at a conference Medecins du Monde conference. What are your general audiences like and how does this affect performances?

CB: Audiences are very diverse as we take our work anywhere we're asked to go. We often find ourselves performing to mental health workers, university students, conference attendees, church-goers, special interest groups or simply the general public. The performances for people in the know, such as those at the MDM conference, are affected in that we really do not need to raise their awareness. In many ways, we offer it as a way to ensure the voices of those they are talking about at the conference are not marginalised or forgotten. We also see it as a promotional performance, as there will inevitably be people in the audience who will tell others about what we are doing and/or organise a subsequent performance themselves. For this reason, we only do short excerpts at such events.

The follow-on afterwards is also affected. For example, with a group such as the MDM attendees, there would be no benefit in staying around afterwards and talking about the issues we raised because they are generally experts in the field. However, with a group of medical students or young people, they have loads of basic questions about how the asylum system works and what they might be able to do on a practical level to help - which I am equipped to talk about.
 
Seven: How do you gain a sense of success from your work? Is it actually possible to gauge an improvement in peoples’ understanding of the situations that many asylum seekers have left, or do you simply trust that you are effectively communicating to your audience?

CB: With more general audiences, we ask them to fill out a short feedback form which indicates what new knowledge they are going away with and whether it has encouraged them to become more active about the issues raised, so that is often measurable. Verbal and written feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with the words “moving” and “shocking” being used most frequently.
 
Seven: Working for a cause, while simultaneously being able to act must be an attractive prospect to so many bidding thespians; does the company attract a lot of young people looking for employment?

CB: The network is actually an informal one, made up of over 350 professional actors. The company is Iceandfire; AFHR is just one part of the company.

Yes, we attract a lot of actors, but not because they are looking for employment (all the actors in AFHR volunteer their time to perform these readings), but because they care about, are interested in and want to do something about the issues raised.
 
Seven: At the conference I attended, the acting was without any props, effects, staging etc. Is this for speed and cost effectiveness or do you not think such additions would add anything to the production?

CB: The reasons are mostly practical. Our objective is for as many people as possible to hear these true stories in a meaningful way. As the actors volunteer and we have a policy that we will only ask for one day of their time to do a performance, we have very little time for rehearsal (this is done on the day) or preparation. Adding the extra burden of props, lighting, etc. would dissuade a lot of under-resourced or non-arts organisations to host us, simply because the organisational and financial burden would be too much. I do think the performances would be enhanced with these additions, and we have done them in more theatrical ways on occasion, but it is simply not practical to do it all the time if you really want to get these stories out there. 
 
Seven: In their coverage of asylum seekers in the UK, the mass media rarely angle for society to sympathise. Do you believe that the depiction of refugees is in any way skewed, and if so, why do you think this is?

CB: There are lots of publications that try to paint a more positive picture; unfortunately, they are not the ones with the largest circulation! The tabloid press, however, is generally negative and this is for many reasons, but mostly it sells their papers for them. Issues around immigration and refugees have always been emotive ones and, because of that, are easy to exploit. So, we have had years of relentlessly bad headlines and, unfortunately, politicians from both major parties pandering to these headlines, so it is no surprise that the public have a skewed perception of what is essentially a tiny number of people coming into the UK each year, most of whom come from the most dangerous or poverty-stricken countries in the world, to seek protection.
 
Seven: What do you think the Actors for Human Rights performances offer that other forms of humanitarian outreach cannot?

CB: Humanitarian outreach does not seek to meaningfully address public attitudes, nor should it. What I think changes minds about contentious issues most effectively is humanising them. While listening to someone tell their own story is a powerful experience, this is not practical or desirable on a large scale. What AFHR can do is perhaps the next best thing.

To find out more about Iceandfire Theatre, visit www.iceandfire.co.uk.