It is a mid April morning, and I am standing at the sink washing my porridge pan. One of those unpleasantly dull daily events, like waiting for the bus or scrapping out coffee grits, that rarely sticks in the memory. My phone starts to ring, I shake clammy oats from my hand and awkwardly answer with slippery fingers. A few seconds later the course of my life has changed in quite a momentous way. I, along with the conFAB organisation, have won funding to create a new piece of verbatim theatre based on interviews with gay male asylum seekers. With not one contact made the opening date, 7th September, seems horribly close.
Six months later, two weeks away from that date I cannot believe the number of new people I met, nor how incredible and moving the stories I have heard. I can't wait to reveal this production!
The research took place in Scotland and in London, though I met those who volunteered for the project through two very different processes. In Scotland, the help and support of the Scottish Refugee Council was instrumental. Even before we had received the funding their backing of the project had been extremely useful, and I am sure added weight to our application, but there remained the tension as to whether they could actually find anybody willing to loan their voice to this production. In London the route into meeting people was less certain, and began in the most unexpected of places; my dad's old English teacher, Hubert.
The I talked with him and his wife Jane in their perfectly English garden, eating delicious home cooked food, a month after we had received our funding. Jane worked with unaccompanied minors who had arrived in the U.K. to claim asylum, and we ran through her contact list trying to think of someone who might be a link into the LGBT side of things. We had nearly wrapped up, and with only a few tenuous connections to try when suddenly Jane sat up "Of course," she said, "Martin!"
I met Martin in a central London cafe the next week. In my widest dreams I could not have imagined such a helpful and incredible person. Not only did he appear to know numerous people who might volunteer, he appeared to know everyone who worked in LGBT asylum in London. His in depth knowledge on the cultural history of homosexuality around the world was fascinating and we connected over a belief that bringing the heart-stopping nature of these stories to the public would make them sit up and listen. He put me in contact with three out of the five men who I interviewed for the show.
It struck me that just talking to people about the project would help me find my way in London; indeed I am also heavily indebted to Chris, a regular in the pub I was working in. He put me in touch with a friend who had been through the asylum process. We met in the same central London cafe, and whilst he never returned my calls to do an interview proper, the hour we talked was hugely insightful and I am grateful for the time he took to chat.
Midway through this process I spoke to Clea Langton at iceandfire theatre company, who specialise in human rights related verbatim work, who told me I should be looking to do a maximum of three to five interviews. Suddenly I started to panic, more and more names were coming forward, and the SRC emailed with 9 further people to talk to. How was I going to process all this into a one hour show with three actors?
It was fortunate that in reality of course many people didn't turn up or changed their mind. As the editing and writing process developed it became clear there was only room for three stories within the restrictions of time and scale. However everything expressed in my unused interviews was fascinating and useful, and they have inevitably influenced the show we have created. I must particularly thank Reverend Jide, for his passion for the project and the afternoon he arranged to spend talking to him a few members of his congregation.
Other research highlights included my discussion with Sam Rankin of The Equality Network, the seminar event at SOAS and the emotionally fraught Q&A session with the UKBA at Mishcon de Raya.
I always said I wanted to create something that was more than just a campaign piece; whilst I believe the show will create debate I don't pretend to have the answers to the issues it raises. Instead this is a production that pays homage to complex beauty of sexuality, and the sheer force of will that those who have experienced persecution because of it must discover in order to live through and overcome their situation.
Some names have been changed to protect identities.
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