Theatre.
England expects
In taking on the subject of Private Lynndie England, the young woman involved in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, dramatist Judith Thompson hopes to change our perspectives on class and gender. Steve Cramer talks to her about MY PYRAMIDS.
‘m sure we all agree that one human life is ol‘ the same \aluc as
another. and l'or this reason. I‘m dedicating 0.00224‘é ol my gricl
over the Iraq war and the So y‘ictims ol‘ the London bombings ol 7 July to the latter group. l)on't get me wrong: the eyents in London were a truly aw‘l’ul act committed against unarmed ciyilians w ho‘d done nothing to desery‘e their late. But on the principle ol~ the sanctity ol‘ human life. the balance must go to the 35.000 ciyilians who haye died since the start oI hostilities in Iraq. Don't l’orgct. as well. that the Iraq body count organisation that compiled this ligure has to go through a rigorous procedure in yeril'y'ing numbers. so perhaps that top percentage should be smaller. l‘or the ntttnbers ol’ dead non—combatants in Iraq is surely greater. Iiach. like the people in London. was the son or daughter of somebody who probably still griey'es horribly as you read this.
There is. of course. the argument that these two ey‘cnts are completely unconnected. bill as Iar as one can see. in this country only the prime minister and a handful ol' cabinet colleagues seem to be operating under this delusion. so let’s leay'e it aside. All the same. it tells its something about the kind of mediation that goes on that the ciyilians ol' Iraq haye become an abstract. Perhaps those in charge ol‘ this reckless and greedy brutality in the West are using Stalin’s old maxim 'one death is a tragedy. a million a statistic’ but we rnust bear in mind the empty space next to someone in the bed. the painl'ul memoir ol‘ the photo on the mantelpiece. and the mother catching hersell buying someone‘s I'ay'ourite food for tonight's dinner. which they will ney‘er eat.
The distorting mirror ol‘ the media has created many dehumanising pictures ol‘ the participants in this utterly pointless war. but only one story stands otit as representing the [lt'l'ln'll'tlltniy ol the war in a harsh light. The ey'ents in Abu (ihraib prison created demons tlius l'ar undetected in Western consciousness. through a series oi lurid snapshots of prisoner abuse. But according to American dramatist .ludith Thompson. the demons hay'e long since been there. brought oy er in tact from the ISA. rather than created by the w artime eny ironment ol' Iraq.
.lly‘ l)_\l'(lllll(/.\'.' Or How I (in! Final I’m/n l/It' Dairy" Queen and lim/et/ (7/) in 3””! (i/iruil). /)y' l’l"(' Lynndie Iing/um/ is some title. but Thompson has set hersell sortie task in asking the West to look at the Inc of the eponymous soldier in a dill‘erent light. (iiyen the systemic nature of the prisoner abuse. as well as the tnuch broader abuses ol" the war. how did so much bile come to be directed. specifically. at the girl in the photo with the dog Ieash'.’ Thompson belieyes that the answers are mainly connected with prejudice about class and gender.
‘This was quite dil‘l‘erent l‘rom my pt'ey'iotls work. so when l was commissioned to write it. I (ioogled this girl's name. The lirst site that came tip was shocking mainly for the kinds ol‘ sexually y iolent imagery that people were writing about her with 'I'hompson tells me. Some ol' this graphic y‘erbal \ iolence is reiterated in the script.
I-‘or 'l‘hompson. this language is rellectiy'e ot‘ a \‘iolence that haunts not Iraq. but the ISA. through its small town world ol‘ casual \iolencc. 'I hope people can see the path to w net‘c she is. She‘s not art attractiye girl growing tip. she said she went through ey‘erything that she did to those Iraqi soldiers and | hay e no doubt that most young girls growing up in those circumstances hayc the st'xttal humiliation and the yiolencc. It's everyday circumstances in som.- places. things like gang rape. It's inst that we in the middle class are ~iiocked and appalled by this. but it's nothing spectacular in a lot ol' enx nomnents. People were shocked at the treatment ol~ middle—aged men, but il‘ it happens to a young girl in a trailer park or reservation. it‘s just. "Uh yeah.” 'l'hompson say s.
50 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE ~'- ' ' .'
The story of the much despised Private Lynndie England
:\nd how do we l'eel about the woman liersell‘. when w c‘re in the room with I.ynndiel’ ‘lt‘s had about three showings. and I’cttltle really loye her. They ltatc what she's done. but she has an odd kind ol' charisma.’ 'I‘hompson says. ‘I see her as a person who’s \cry conditioned and constructed by her circumstances. .r\nd she has a conscience. She can’t allow hcrscll' conscience about the Iraqis. bttt she does hay e conscience about something she did to another girl a long time ago. She doesn't know that the two things are connected.‘
'I'hompson sees the callous treatment ol' the Iraqi prisoners as a product ol' the brutalisation ol' the .-\merican working class. ‘It’s always the least educated and most needy who are sent away to these things. these people don't get to go to college or nniyersity. It‘s something to do with the unemployed as Iar as the elite are concerned. I‘m sure you saw Michael Moore's lilm. where they traw led the small towns and malls tor dissolttte youth. \o dottbt they .re going to be angry in that situation. and become monstcrs.’
This might well be a \alttable eyening tor those less interested iii the media spectacle ol Iraq than its human price.
Traverse Theatre, 228 1404, 7-28 Aug (not 8, 15, 22), various times, £15 (£4.50-£9). Previews 4&6 Aug, £9 (£4.50).