Writer: Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen

Director: Jessica Blank

Reviewer: Toni Stott-Rates

The Public Reviews Rating:

In Britain every time a soldier dies we are confronted with his picture an account of what happened – if possible – and comments from the bereaved family, sometimes a picture of the funeral mourners. Where is the reporting of the daily death and injury toll for the citizens of the countries we have invaded? This leaves us the British and the West outraged by the loss of life of our soldiers but indifferent and ignorant of the daily atrocities the populace living in warzones have to live through.

Part of LIFT 2010, a festival focused on bringing events and experiences that would transform the audience’s understanding of ourselves, and the communities within London and the world around us. Director/writers Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen have presented a piece of agitprop verbatim theatre comprised of interviews from Iraqi refugees now living in Jordan. They have skilfully interwoven stories using a translator as a guide, as key that unlocks the stories of a people who have had their suffering ignored for years.

This piece starts by gently introducing us to the lives and loves of these refugees with self told stories of their families, how they made a living before the war, how they met their spouses, their children. In this way we are introduced to a way of existence and a people who are quietly and happily getting on with their lives in Fallujah or Bagdad despite Saddam’s regime. We invest our emotions in their happy memories and as their memories turn sour with the start of the war, the occupation and eventually exile, so our stomachs curdle with our empathy and our outrage.

This piece is biased, it is not a balanced story of Iraq it does not include a 1st person narrative of an American soldier’s fear and anxiety of the unknown enemy, there are no stories from Iraqi government officials or militia police about the strain or pressure of the job and any tales of their fear or regret, because this piece is not about them. It is about giving a voice to the citizens of Iraq who’s only crime, was being Iraqi.

The Old Vic tunnels make for an atmospheric venue lending a feel of an underground bunker to the show, the rumbles of the overhead trains, which sometimes make it a wee bit difficult to hear the actors speak, are like echo’s of bombs blasting in the distance. The set like the acting is bare and basic there are no trappings here, we are not observers of a spectacle, we are witness to people’s lives and their stories of survival. This bareness allows us to intuitively empathise as opposed to having our emotions coaxed and played like a violin; this leads us to believe in the honesty of the narrative, which in turn gives these people real human faces. You walk out in tears of rage motivated to do something about what you’ve heard as opposed to the cathartic elements of most theatre which allow for a comfortable barrier to be constructed between audience and the make believe that happens to characters on stage.

This piece should be seen by as many people as possible, I’d even go so far as to say should be compulsory viewing for GCSE levels school kids, politicians and soldiers, because this piece isn’t just about Iraqi refugees, its about how easy it is to let our government go to war and simply ignore another nation’s suffering as long as we don’t have to live with the consequences.

Runs until 17th July

Aftermath - Old Vic Tunnels, London, 5.0 out of 5 based on 2 ratings

Tags: Aftermath, Amnesty international, ArKtype, Erik Jensen., Jessica Blank, LIFT 2010, London, Old Vic Tunnels, The New York Theatre Workshop, Verbatim