[Back] Projects

[Project] [In Their Own Words] [Source Material]

Talking to Terrorists - Out of Joint Theatre Company

London, UK

Project

This theatre project sought to respond to the growing concern with terrorism, both in the UK and around the world. The writer, Robin Soans, director, Max Stafford-Clark and actors/researchers interviewed people around the world who have been affected by or involved in terrorism. Using these interviews, Soans created a verbatim theatre script for the play, where all of the words in the play are edited reproductions of actual testimonies or conversations. The play was commissioned by the Royal Court and produced by Stafford-Clark's company, Out of Joint, who specialise in new writing. It toured to nine regional venues in England, completing the tour in London in June 2005. Soans has already written The Arab Israeli Cookbook, another verbatim play based on interviews with people in Israel and The West Bank. Through talking to people about food he crafted a piece that was really about culture and how the inhabitants of these places felt about the political situation in which they lived. Verbatim and documentary theatre techniques are being used with increasing frequency to investigate contemporary political issues.

The first half of Talking to Terrorists deals with a more traditional definition of terrorism, where violence is directed against a state or colonial power. It explores the motivations and actions of IRA bombers, Al Aqsa Martyrs, child soldiers in Uganda and PKK rebels in Turkey. In contrast, the second half of the performance complicates the definition of terrorism to explore issues related to state terrorism. This section of the performance sets acts of violence that are supported or commissioned by the state alongside the acts of violence against states/occupiers explored in the first half. Using testimony from various government officials, including prominent UK officials, this juxtaposition encourages the audience to question the distinctions between state violence and 'terrorism', especially when the play presents the lives broken by both manifestations of violence.

[Back]