Theatre
Everyday life In mm a life that includes hoquom car
.\ bombs (right) and daily
/ r a“) encounters with troops ‘verbatim theatre’ productions,
s I I in which first person accounts
are presented directly to the audience. Steve Cramer argues that this is a powerful way for theatre to reach ‘the truth’ about issues such as the Iraq war.
This Festival will see a slew of
ur media these days seems endlesst entranced by the sound bite. the spectacular image. and easy drama. Beneath all the press conferences. shuttle
diplomacy (which presents a dramatic do or
die narratiyc about decisions that hayc. in lact.
already been made) and constant l'ilms ol‘
missiles which are launched without any record ol‘ the bloody end of their journeys. we might all l‘eeI we're missing something. Is there any remedy to the media‘s constant
obfuscation ol' the el'l'ects and consequences of
\Vill‘l.)
One technique is to try to go directly to the facts. without the usual mediation. and the imposition ol‘ interpretation. This is what New York writer Iiliot “'einberger did in his article for The London Review of Books. ‘What I Heard About Iraq'. In it. without the intercession of spin doctors. dodgy dossiers. gladhanding politicians or smooth and apathy- inspiring anchormen. he simply ran a succession of direct quotations by Various parties inyolyed. from politicians to people
52 THE LIST FESTIVAL MAGAZINE .4— ‘ .‘ Au.) ..‘ (-
caught under the bombs. It is a simple collage ol' quotes. easin brought up on the Internet. which I warmly recommend. The el'l‘ect ol‘ two quotes by politicians might giye you the gist:
‘In February 200i. I heard (‘olin Powell say that Saddam lltissein "has not deyeloped any significant capability with respect to weapons ol‘ mass destruction. He is unable to project conyentional power against his neighbours.”
A year later. President BLish is qtioted as saying: ‘I heard the president say that Iraq is “a threat ol‘ unique urgency". and that there is “no doubt the Iraqi regime continues to possess and conceal some of the most lethal weapons eyer de\'ised".’ The el‘l‘ect ol‘ these direct quotations l‘rom the politicians. as history is rapidly enough rewritten to giye Stalin catise l‘or unease. is alternately comical and horril‘ying. while many ol~ the quotations from indiyiduals affected by the bombings. as well as the [IS soldiers policing the country. are gut wrenching. Weinberger's piece might haye stayed on the net. but for some enterprising (‘aIil‘ornian theatre practitioners. whose