By James Hadley in London

I recently spent an enlightening Saturday travelling to theatre showings in two of greater London's suburban theatre venues - one in the north, and one in the south, but both made direct appeals to the social conscience of their audience members.By James Hadley in London

I recently spent an enlightening Saturday travelling to theatre showings in two of greater London's suburban theatre venues - one in the north, and one in the south, but both made direct appeals to the social conscience of their audience members.The first was at the Arcola Theatre in Dalston. This venue has a friendly foyer a bit like a local cafe and two studio theatre venues - the one I attended was tiny; about half the size of the previous Silo space, and with bench seating. I always used to imagine that all London theatres were enviably well resourced and spacious - but our venues in NZ are just as good, there are just more of them here!

I spent a slightly uncomfortable 90 minutes earlier in the week on the venue's bench seating, without a cushion, and in a packed theatre - it holds about 40-50. This was to see a new play called Welcome to Ramallah by Sonja Linden and Adah Kay. It was quite a traditional script and production, which gave a measured dramatic portrait of two sisters who grew up as Zionist Jews, and a Palestinian father and son. With great dramatic economy, much of the twentieth century history of the conflicts in Palestine were referenced in this living room drama set in the internationals neighbourhood of Ramallah. You certainly got to see both sides of the story - and it was quite an education to someone like me, who was woefully ignorant of many aspects to the situation in Palestine.

The production was presented by iceandfire theatre, a company who specialise in 'compelling theatre that makes real and relevant the impact of human rights issues on our everyday lives.' It was clear that 'Welcome to Ramallah' had a didactic intention - that of educating audiences to some of the abuses to human rights occuring in Palestine. But it was a companion piece, also by iceandfire, that had me returning to the Arcola on the Saturday in question - and this was a more interesting work in some ways.

Palestine Monologues is a piece of verbatim theatre, compiled by Sonja Linden from accounts of Palestinians to be performed by three actors. There's a directness of connection that happens with a lot of verbatim theatre which makes its experience somehow more affecting, and the accounts of needless injustices sometimes brought tears to my eyes. One example that sticks in the mind was the account of a pregnant Palestinian woman being stopped at a checkpoint while she was in labour, her husband trying to drive her to the hospital. She gave birth to the child and it survived six hours, then died - the family still waiting at the checkpoint to be allowed through. Tales such as these, told in the words of those who experience the injustice, remind you of how powerful theatre can sometimes be, and also put a lot of things into perspective.

Iceandfire's artistic director, Sonja Linden, writes one of these verbatim dramas as a companion piece to the company's major production each year. It's then available to be performed anywhere in the UK thanks to an ingenious network called Actors for Human Rights. This is a group of actors around the UK, who have volunteered to offer their time to perform these verbatim works about human rights issues free of charge in local areas. You get in touch with iceandfire and they arrange for the nearest performers to come and give a reading of the script in your venue, school or community hall. The first 'Actors for Human Rights' was actually begun in Melbourne, in response to the Australian government's controversial response to a boat of asylum seekers in 2001. I'm amazed that the initiative hasn't crossed over to NZ yet - unless I just haven't heard about it. But I'm sure either the UK or Australian branch would be happy to talk to anyone reading this who's interested in presenting one of the readings locally.

My second socially minded experience of the Saturday was in South London, at Tara Arts Studio. It's another tiny studio space, which is home to Tara Arts - a theatre company which has been termed 'the most culturally open minded troupe in England'. On the evening in question, an unnamed company of actors presented a work in progress showing, called 'Suspended Lives'. It was based on one of the actor's research into the experiences of refugees living in London. As such, it got a bit lost in its own efforts not to stereotype or generalise the representation of refugees onstage, but it certainly made you think about the refugee experience. The more exciting part of the evening came after an interval, when the company facilitated the audience's response to the work through forum theatre. I'd read about Augusto Boal's forum theatre techniques years ago, but never experienced it. The company had used it to help devise the play - engaging the researcher's refugee interviewees in the forum theatre technique. I was cynical that the audience would have little they were willing to contribute, but I was pleasantly wrong. The energy in the room grew exponentially - once people had got past the initial trepidation of realising they were being asked to stand in for the actors and play their version of how a scene should develop. Soon normally introverted audience members were responding with warmth and compassion to the ideas of those around them, and there was a neighbourly, party atmosphere. It certainly succeeded in engaging people with the subject matter.

My second inspiring reminder in one day of how powerful theatre can be when it's used for particular socially minded aims...

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Feel free to get in touch with any questions (or if you're planning a London visit and want some theatre recommendations) to jamesstuarthadley@gmail.com

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20/10/08