Current and Future Productions

Asylum Monologues
scripted by Sonja Linden

Our flagship production, Asylum Monologues is a first-hand account of the UK’s asylum system in the words of people who have experienced it. With personal testimony at its core combined with public opinion, political statements and statistical fact, this production disseminates what it really means to be displaced in the UK. It was launched in London at Amnesty International in June 2006 and has been on a rolling tour around the country ever since.

This is the thing that the British people don’t understand. They think we came here just because we want to live here. We came here because there are problems – that why we came here.

Some audience feedback:

I came here tonight without knowing the difference between an asylum seeker and a refugee. I am choked for words. This was a powerful, hard-hitting script of horrific events. I fully intend to support this cause
(Audience member, Asylum Monologues, Middlesbrough, Jan 2007).

It really brought home just how easy it is to demonise asylum seekers and just how ignorant a lot of people are about the issues, including myself.
(Audience member, Asylum Monologues, Oxford, October 2006)

Click here to watch a 20 minute film about how Asylum Monologues was developed.

We have also collected a number of other testimonies focusing on lack of access to medical care, destitution of asylum seekers and the experiences of Darfuri asylum seekers living in the UK. Please let us know if you are interested in using the Asylum Monologues format to highlight certain issues about the asylum experience.

BOOK A PERFORMANCE »

Asylum Dialogues
scripted by Sonja Linden
Conceived and researched by Christine Bacon



This play was launched in conjunction with national refugee charity Refugee Action during Refugee Week 2008 in Derby, London, Liverpool and Bristol. This new script highlights some of the many acts of solidarity shown by British people towards asylum seekers living alongside them. Drawn from real life conversations with three couples - one an asylum seeker and the other a British citizen - this play explores the positive transformations created by their encounters with each other.

For dates and booking details click here »

To book future performances click here »

I honestly used to say – send ‘em all home. They shouldn’t be here. It’s an English country. They take all our money. Then this woman turned up to clean my office and turned the world upside down. -John, Birmingham

Some audience feedback:

"Enlightening, amazing, heart-wrenching, exactly the kind of truth that should be presented on the British stage today"

"A first class presentation – very emotional."

"Very moving and empowering. Makes me want to take action. Thank you very much"

Rendition Monologues
scripted by Christine Bacon
Original score by Michael Edwards



This play, which was launched at the Bridewell Theatre, London, in June 2008, weaves together first-hand accounts of men who have been victims of "extraordinary rendition", the CIA's practice of transferring people to prisons for interrogation as terror suspects in countries where there is a known risk of torture. As the truth begins to filter out about this issue, we hope that Rendition Monologues can contribute to a full reckoning over human rights abuses committed in the name of the ‘War on Terror.’

You are in a land where there are no laws. Do you know what that means? We can bury you or keep you in this prison for 20 years and nobody on earth would ever know.

"Massive Attacks' political edge came to the fore in Meltdown's non-musical programming, including Saturday's unnerving spoken word performance of Rendition Monologues... This was a haunting and horrifying account which also paid testimony to human resilience, featuring a live Q&A with Guantánamo survivor Bisher Al-Rawi"
- Metro, June 23 2008

"Really, I am almost lost for words. The show was really very moving, scarily so. The performance really brought it home. I was very, very impressed with the performance - it was very powerful. I was almost living through their experiences and mine as well. I hope everyone here found it as effective and revealing as I did."
- Bisher Al-Rawi, ex Guantánamo prisoner and rendition victim

"I think the play is fantastic... if these voices can reach as many people as possible, that's probably the kind of thing it will take for people to realise the real cost of what's happening."
- Chloe Davies, rendition researcher, Reprieve

"A forceful sense of injustice is palpable throughout Rendition Monologues ... I have read newspaper articles about extraordinary rendition... but the play gave the stories a different resonance. The acting was superb ... Bacon’s script was so rich with information... that there was no need for much visual spectacle to make it captivating."
-Emel Magazine

To book future performances click here »

The Illegals
First-hand testimonies from undocumented migrants living and working in London
scripted by Christine Bacon

This project, funded by the City Parochial Foundation, will be launching at the Soho Theatre London on November 21. The script comprises of first-hand accounts of undocumented migrants living and working in London.

As the name of the project suggests, this particular category of migrants is both derided and misunderstood. We hope that this play will contribute to increased public pressure for regularisation of the status of some 500,000 undocumented migrants currently living in precarious circumstances by virtue of being outside of any formal system.

If you would like further information about this project, or if you would like to attend the launch, please email illegals@iceandfire.co.uk

"When I sit beside someone on the bus and they have an uncomfortable moment or look at me in a strange way I think - maybe this guy realises I'm an illegal."

Palestine Monologues
First-hand testimonies from the occupied territories
scripted by Sonja Linden

Palestine Monologues explores the day to day experiences of life under Israeli occupation and also highlights some of the turning points individuals have had when they have seen past the dominant and conflicting narratives perpetuating the conflict. It was launched at the Arcola Theatre, London, on October 4 2008 and the Theatre Royal York on November 1. To book future performances, click here.

"No one wants to hear what’s going on in the occupied territories – it is one of the biggest taboos in Israel. It’s the dirt from that backyard that you do everything to keep in the backyard."
- Former Israeli Defense Force soldier

"It is our right to live in a better place than a refugee camp. To live like those who live in the heart of Tel Aviv. To see the sea. These are simple dreams."
- Riyad, a Palestinian