Aftermath of war

OneWorld

By Daniel Nelson

Actor/directors Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen talked to 35 of the 500,000-700,000 Iraqi refugees in Jordan, each with more than an ordinary lifetime’s drama to tell, and have boiled the interviews down to 90 minutes – funny, gripping, moving, tragic minutes.

The testimonies have been edited, shaped and intercut for maximum dramatic effect, and Aftermath, in London until 17 July, doesn’t make the claim of most “verbatim theatre” that every word is real. But the overall result tells a truth about the US-led invasion and its impact.

The staging is simple. Nine characters - a translator, a dermatologist, a mother, an artist, a theatre director, an imam, a pharmacist, a cook and his wife – recount their experiences. But what experiences. The words and acting are riveting. They grab your attention and never let it go, despite the noisy train rumblings that are an inescapable feature of a venue fashioned from the tunnels under Waterloo station. (The Old Vic has a lease on some of the tunnels for 2010 and a chance to view a rarely seen slice of subterranean London would be reason enough to go, even if the production were not so gripping.)

Their stories are pure theatre – from a theatre of war, to use an absurd and dishonest euphemism much loved by the military. So though powerful, the evening is “entertaining”. And the people on stage are not stereotypes of the Noble Victim: their stories are shaped to produce maximum impact on audiences from the invading powers, but the characters have their failings and frailties, indeed their absurdities. They can be seen for what they are, but are never mocked.

Britain played a big role in the unforgivable invasion and incompetent occupation, and this show ought to be seen by a wider audience. Humanitarian instincts - whether a reminder of the unintended consequences and human cost of conflict, or of the crushed hopes and ambivalent feelings of Iraqis - always need re-enforcing.

+ Amnesty points out that 23,000 Iraqis have sought refuge in Europe, and that several EU governments - including the UK - are forcibly returning Iraqi nationals to Baghdad. Amnesty believes that this is unsafe and that returns should take place only when the security situation has stabilised.

* Aftermath runs until Saturday 17 July at The Old Vic Tunnels, Station Approach Road, London, SE1 7XB. Tickets £15/£12 from the Old Vic box office, or on 0844 871 7628.

+ Iraq: Refugees International

+ Fact Sheet: Iraqi Refugees in Jordan and Syria