For more info and to reserve your ticket click here

To register for this free event, click here . Although the event is free, contributions towards a collection for Freedom from Torture will be welcome.

For more info contact Ian Foster on 020 7911 5567 or email ian.foster@learningunlimited.co

I was invited to work with ice&fire in 2012 on the research and development process for their Art of Dying project. This was the initial phase of development of a new theatre piece inspired by the recent rise in contemporary paupers funerals in the UK. The piece sought to explore this social issue by working with a team of writers, and the prospect of this collaborative way of engaging with the material was incredibly exciting to me.

The creative team assembled by ice&fire producer and dramaturg Annecy Hayes and artistic director Christine Bacon, included novelist Anna Hope, performance poet Chris Redmond, and director Douglas Rintoul. Together with the ice&fire theatre team we all set about becoming more acquainted with our subject matter. Death and all of its surrounding rituals, beliefs and taboos is a topic that I find deeply compelling.  The inescapable fact of our own mortality and the way we engage, or resist engaging with this, is something that defines every aspect of our existence and I was keen to explore the complexity of these ideas and the social realities of the death trade in more depth. Having the opportunity to do this in such a creatively supportive environment was a privilege. Working with other writers was deeply exciting from the outset and sharing ideas and snippets of early work with others at an embryonic stage always led me to areas, that as an individual artist working alone, I may have overlooked. The final week of development brought us into contact with a sound designer, video designer and a group of actors, research findings and first bits of text were workshopped, staged and given a closed sharing to a select audience. This provided us with much valued feedback to take into the next our work. Being involved in a project that was conceived to place the collaborative nature of theatre at its heart was a deeply inspiring and valuable experience.After our initial research period I was delighted to be invited to return to work with the company, this time as an artist in residence. My focus was to work on the first draft of the Art of Dying script, this time alongside Annecy Hayes. As co-authors we developed and moved through several drafts working towards a final rehearsal draft of the play. We were delighted to receive support from the National Theatre Studio for the initial phase of this secondary development, and Annecy and I locked ourselves. 

Working within a company who have a deep commitment to human rights at their core was hugely inspiring to me as a playwright. I was impressed by the company’s dedication to research, their openness to all angles of enquiry and the way they continued to seek out professional expertise and opinion at every step of the development process. During our research we met with forensic artists, professors, chaplains, hospice workers and many other people who worked within and around the funeral and death trade. The results of our research was fascinating, horrifying, and incredibly moving in equal measure. Annecy and I hope that the final script and forthcoming production does justice to such a vast and diverse topic.away with an impressive collection of stationary, and index cards to help us find a structure and form for the piece as well as a methodology that suited both our ways of working. As the Art of Dying script grew and matured, we held several readings to help us gather thoughts and reflections on the piece in order to strengthen our writing process.  These sharings provided critical opportunities for Annecy and I to reflect on the journey of the piece and they often resulted in significant turning points in the script’s development.

My time as an artist in residence with ice&fire has furthered and developed me as a writer. It has helped me formulate new ways of generating text and has given me first hand experience of co-authorship and all the challenges associated with such an intense, rewarding and joyful process. Perhaps most importantly, it has re-connected me with the importance of placing human rights issues at the centre of my work. I am drawn to theatre and story because of their powerful ability to help us share, question and inspire change. I am incredibly proud that I have had the opportunity to work within a theatre company that is dedicated to exploring human rights issues through the medium of performance.

‘What happened to me, the marks on my body, the memories, they are going to be my souvenirs.’These words are those of a victim and survivor of torture recounting the horrific experiences she went through. The words are immortalised in the play Souvenirs which premiered at the Independent Bath Literature Festival earlier this month. I was one of five cast members, all from Freedom From Torture’s creative writing group, Write to Life.

Souvenirs is a unique play, a finished script woven from the real life testimonies of torture victims and survivors. It is about our experiences, frustrations, hopes and victories in the face of the odds stacked against us. What could be just a piece of theatrical drama becomes vividly real when the actual characters occupy the stage.

Although we had sat many times in the same room as part of the same writing group, it was only when we assembled for the first rehearsal that we learned what each other had been through. A wife and mother who loses her husband, then her children, to rebel forces: another mother disfigured by a brutal attack and separated for years from her daughter; an activist hounded by partisan security forces; a father forced to abandon his family and homeland; and a former child soldier whose childhood is stolen are skilfully put together by playwright Christine Bacon.

With no previous experience, we spent five months in the curious process of learning to ‘act’ our own conversations. Heavy things become light when you can share them with each other. By the time we arrived in Bath, we were nervous but we knew each other and the play.

When the door opened and we walked in and onto the stage, I was amazed at the numbers in the room. Looking at the festival programme, I had seen some very famous names; surely people who signed up for JK Rowling wouldn’t be interested in us? And yet, every seat was filled, with people of all sorts and ages.

As soon as one of the writers spoke her first lines, a playful, confident woman I knew, she carried us all with her and I knew it was going to be all right. I could see that people were attentive, switching their gaze between us as we spoke. I had been worried that they wouldn’t understand my pronunciation, but that didn’t seem to be a problem. And the comic moments, which I hadn’t really understood in rehearsal, suddenly came alive.

But it was comedy born of humiliation and frustration. Our stories are more sad than funny, and by the time the play finished, more than half of the audience was in tears. And yet, ironically, although it demanded great courage to share our stories with strangers on a public stage, what I felt afterwards was relief.

Why act your bad experiences? Because of that therapeutic nature of art, which relieves pain by putting it into some other form. That, after all, is the purpose of Write to Life. And also to be heard. There is a line in the play which runs, ‘When I sit in front of you, trying to tell you my story, you might think I’m looking for sympathy’. The point of the play is not cry babies looking for sympathy – even though that’s what it evoked. We are asking society to hear our side of the story.

If the Bard of Avon had been amongst the audience he would have said to Ben Jonson, or whatever friend was next to him, ‘That’s what I meant when I wrote  ‘All the world’s a stage’. And the world was put on stage in Bath that afternoon.

If you’re interested in supporting Write to Life and Freedom from Torture, please contact the Bristol and Bath Local Group for Freedom from Torture bristolbathfft@yahoo.co.uk

Our verbatim scripts performed by the ice&fire network of wonderful actors still provide a powerful launch pad for exploring human rights. Front-line staff from statutory and voluntary agencies participating in workshops based on themes of equality and diversity has inspired new actions to support people seeking asylum and refugees.

Interactive performances in schools, colleges and universities have animated our On A Clear Day You Can See Dover script enabling young people to directly connect with the testimonies by performing the script themselves. A partnership with Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust means midwives throughout Yorkshire and Humber will now have access to an ice&fire filmed testimony as part of a toolkit to support women seeking asylum.

All in all 2012 has proved to be a busy and fruitful year targeting new audiences and reaching over 3,000 people who say they have been motivated to change their working practice and challenge prejudicial attitudes within their own communities. The Actors For Human Rights network is expanding into Scotland where events with the British Red Cross and The Cooperative Membership have created new partnerships with actors, activist and agencies committed to bringing ice&fire further north.

Plans for 2013 include a new project launch with The Co-operative Membership and ‘Conversations with Purpose’ exploring women’s human rights. Enquiries from Local Authorities, Police forces, Universities, City of Sanctuary groups and Race Equality Councils show we are going to have a busy year ahead. It is inspiring to have so many passionate new people on board!

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