Fallujah centre-stage

OneWorld UK

By Daniel Nelson

The US attack on Fallujah in April 2004 convulsed the city between 60 and 70 per cent of the buildings were flattened and even today the population stands at only 30-50 per cent of its pre-war level. Yet there is little public knowledge of what has been described as one of the most extensive human rights violations of recent times. Now a play at the Old Truman Brewery in Londons Brick Lane is trying to put it back on the map.

Its an uphill task. A performance about a ruthless assault in a murderous war is not everyones choice of an evening out.

The audience mills about, following the actors and changing viewing positions as the scenes flash from a Condoleezza Rice news conference to the back of an ambulance parked further along the cavernous hall. The technique adds little to conventional stage presentation, and the strobe lights and explosions are no more than a theatrical device to be tolerated.

Also, the attack was an American initiative, from which the British army kept a disdainful distance. Many theatre-goers here may feel or want to feel - a similar distance, and a similar disdain, despite their countrys role in the invasion of Iraq.

And since this is verbatim theatre (all the words come from interviews with participants), many people might dismiss it as agitprop rather than drama.

None of these objections should deter. It would, of course, be possible to stay at home and read the interviews on the printed page, but that would miss the inflection, emphasis and rhythm with which good actors breathe life into words.

What occurred in Fallujah should not be forgotten; lessons need to be learned. On posters in the old brewery, the charity Peace Direct, from whose research the play grew, doesnt simply say The attack was wrong, but offers a timeline to the siege and assault with practical alternatives to the actions that were taken by the US authorities.

The Pula Trust has promised to meet the first £3,000 of donations to the
Humanitarian Liaison Centre in Kirkuk, set up by Sami Velioglu, a British Iraqi, to help people damaged by the conflict to tell their stories and gain redress. In its first 18 months, the centre dealt with 2,500 cases and secured the release of more than 100 wrongfully detained people. Donations can be made through Peace Direct.

* Fallujah lasts 90 minutes and runs until 2 June.

* Balloons in Fallujah