About us



Press 'play' to watch a 20 minute film about how our first project, Asylum Monologues, was developed. Shot and edited by Ben Kelly. Directed by Christine Bacon. Music by Michael Edwards.

To view an aimation inspired by Asylum Monologues by George Sander Jackson please click here

History

Actors for Human Rights was formerly known as Actors for Refugees. The original network was formed in Melbourne, Australia, in September 2001, in the wake of a series of particularly aggressive and controversial actions by the Australian government towards asylum seekers arriving by boat. Founding members Alice Garner and Kate Atkinson wanted to use the collective might of Australian actors to influence community attitudes toward refugees and asylum seekers and to encourage a humanitarian response to their plight. They have performed their two documentary plays, Something to Declare by Michael Gurr and Club Refuge to audiences across Australia. Both performances are presented as rehearsed readings of true stories and first hand testimonies of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia.

The UK actors' network was launched in June 2006 at Amnesty International and now consists of well over 300 professional actors and musicians.

What we do

Our main activity up until the launch of Actors for Human Rights has been presenting rehearsed readings of Asylum Monologues, scripted by Sonja Linden, which has been seen in towns and cities from Glasgow to Exeter. During the course of 2008, four new scripts will be launched and will be rolled out in the same way Asylum Monologues has been.

We provide our productions as campaigning and awareness-raising tools to be taken to any part of the UK at any time. Because of the simplicity and documentary nature of the scripts, the performances do not need lengthy rehearsal or direction and are simply read out by a constantly changing cast, usually accompanied by a live score. We also do not often perform in traditional performance venues. Churches, galleries, lecture halls, village halls, and community centres have been used in the past.

We work in conjunction with local and national groups and grassroots organisations wherever we go, to ensure audiences are encouraged and assisted to take action after seeing the performance.

Costs

We want our work to be accessible to everybody, so we have a range of rates depending on the size and resources of your organisation. We do not provide the performance for fundraising purposes, unless the funds raised are shared with Actors for Human Rights.

To find out more about how to book a performance in your area, go to our bookings page.

Why actors?

First and foremost, as UK citizens we all have a right to have our say about systems operating "in our name".

As actors, we can give faces and voices to the to the marginalised, demonised and hidden. We are given the privilege of portraying people of all kinds, with different histories, politics and cultures. This requires an openness and a willingness to try to understand why people do what they do. We can tell stories that will reignite compassion and understanding in others.

As skilled communicators, we understand the potency of language and the powerful and damaging role it has played in shaping existing popular opinion. We can redress discriminatory representations of marginalised people with more accurate information, but also with personal stories that appeal to the best in British people, rather than inflame easily stirred fears.

As public figures, we have a potentially larger and more diverse audience than other lobby groups. We have also found that often the curious and undecided will approach a performance such as ours more readily than a lecture or newspaper article. Feedback from host orgnanisations after our performances has suggested that our work has motivated hundreds of people into many forms of activism.

As you know from the immediate feedback following the event, people found your powerful presentation deeply moving and made comments to that effect. The long term impact has been that those who said ' I just never realised - what can I do to help?' have been visibly motivated to get involved with all sorts of local activities. Those whose perceptions have been changed through hearing Asylum Monologues have experienced raised awareness, compassion and a determination to influence the political agenda - not bad for a night's work!

- Kath Sainsbury, Fieldworker, Justice First, following performance of Asylum Monologues in Middlesbrough, 2007.