Dirty truth: personal narrative, victimhood and participatory theatre work with people seeking asylum

Abstract

An emphasis on personal narratives characterises a great deal of participatory theatre practice with refugee groups. It is important to understand how these narratives are conditioned by bureaucratic performance if practitioners are to avoid re-enactments of victimhood in participatory projects. Bureaucratic performance concerns the legal and juridical structures that exist beyond the theatre within which asylum seekers’ stories are created. These structures require narratives of persecution if the asylum seeker is to be successful in his or her claim for asylum, and such narratives often make their way into participatory work. By examining three scenes from the play A Letter from Home, it is possible to identify different approaches to the presentation of personal narrative in performance. The most positive of these approaches served to undermine the figure of the refugee as a victim, at the same time as it productively destabilised some of the boundaries between participant and facilitator.

Keywords:

• performance
• victimhood
• refugees

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CORRIGENDUM

Acknowledgements

This piece is written from the perspective of an audience member, and is an analysis of the performance. It is not intended to reflect any outcomes of the research carried out during this project and it does not necessarily represent the views of those involved in the process, although the artistic director and research team were consulted on early drafts.

Notes

1. A Letter from Home was performed in the John Thaw Studio, University of Manchester, 10–11 December 2006. It was directed by Janine Waters of Watersedge Arts for In Place of War. Quotations from the play are taken from a DVD recording.

2. The gathering and dissemination of asylum statistics is notoriously complex. See http://www.icar.org.uk/

3. In Place of War is an AHRC-funded project set up at the University of Manchester to investigate the relationship between performance and war. See http://www.inplaceofwar.net

4. Sources: Performance and Asylum Conference, University of Sydney, September 2006; Refugee Narrative Symposium, University of East London, April 2007.

5. Many of the participants were from DRC although this was never overtly stated in the play.

6. Source: interview transcripts following the performance.