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Jul. 29th, 2014 11:33 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adiva_calandiaSo Little Bee.
Little Bee (aka The Other Hand in non-US markets) by Chris Cleave is a 2008 novel that is being adapted for stage by Book-It Repertory Theatre. I'm the dramaturg for the production, which I'm super, super psyched about -- in my internship interview I expressed an interest in learning more about their adaptation process, and they put me on a world premiere, and I'm meeting with the director/playwright today to talk about the project.
It's heavy material, and I'm about to talk about the research I'm doing, and probably will talk about it more in coming months -- here, mostly, I think, rather than on Tumblr or Facebook, because some of the social issues are hot button and a lot of the content is very upsetting. Below the cut is discussion of the preliminary research on immigration I'm doing today that's making me really angry. (Also talk of violence and suicide.)
LB is primarily (well, in my mind, anyway) about refugees and illegal immigration in the UK. Cleave was partially inspired by the story of a Nigerian refugee who hanged himself the day before he and his son were to be deported, knowing that the UK's immigration rules don't allow unaccompanied minors to be deported.
Sound a little familiar, with current events along the US-Mexico border?
One of the things I'm determined to do is make sure this production gives audiences resources to help, because reading the book made me feel incredibly helpless. Washington and Oregon both have fairly high numbers of migrant workers because of our farming industries; many of those workers are probably undocumented. Human trafficking is also unnervingly prevalent in Seattle. (Obv. I need to get real numbers and citations on these, but.) The story of LB is set in London, but the issues discussed in it are in our backyards.
Like. Literally. Because what do I find when I go to the Northwest Immigration Rights Project website but a mention of the "Northwest Detention Center" in Tacoma, a privately-owned immigration prison thirty miles from where I live and I am so, so mad that this is how the US deals with refugees and low-income immigrants who have committed no crimes except being not American and lacking resources. We jail them. There is so much more research I need to do and probably so much more to be angry about (although there also appear to be some things I can do which is good) but I have to shower so I can go to this meeting and get mad there.
I mean fucking hell, man. I'm not even close to qualified to help with most of the stuff NWIRP needs -- legal aid, translation services -- but I can get mad as hell and yell about it and do art about it, and I guess that counts for something.
Little Bee (aka The Other Hand in non-US markets) by Chris Cleave is a 2008 novel that is being adapted for stage by Book-It Repertory Theatre. I'm the dramaturg for the production, which I'm super, super psyched about -- in my internship interview I expressed an interest in learning more about their adaptation process, and they put me on a world premiere, and I'm meeting with the director/playwright today to talk about the project.
It's heavy material, and I'm about to talk about the research I'm doing, and probably will talk about it more in coming months -- here, mostly, I think, rather than on Tumblr or Facebook, because some of the social issues are hot button and a lot of the content is very upsetting. Below the cut is discussion of the preliminary research on immigration I'm doing today that's making me really angry. (Also talk of violence and suicide.)
LB is primarily (well, in my mind, anyway) about refugees and illegal immigration in the UK. Cleave was partially inspired by the story of a Nigerian refugee who hanged himself the day before he and his son were to be deported, knowing that the UK's immigration rules don't allow unaccompanied minors to be deported.
Sound a little familiar, with current events along the US-Mexico border?
One of the things I'm determined to do is make sure this production gives audiences resources to help, because reading the book made me feel incredibly helpless. Washington and Oregon both have fairly high numbers of migrant workers because of our farming industries; many of those workers are probably undocumented. Human trafficking is also unnervingly prevalent in Seattle. (Obv. I need to get real numbers and citations on these, but.) The story of LB is set in London, but the issues discussed in it are in our backyards.
Like. Literally. Because what do I find when I go to the Northwest Immigration Rights Project website but a mention of the "Northwest Detention Center" in Tacoma, a privately-owned immigration prison thirty miles from where I live and I am so, so mad that this is how the US deals with refugees and low-income immigrants who have committed no crimes except being not American and lacking resources. We jail them. There is so much more research I need to do and probably so much more to be angry about (although there also appear to be some things I can do which is good) but I have to shower so I can go to this meeting and get mad there.
I mean fucking hell, man. I'm not even close to qualified to help with most of the stuff NWIRP needs -- legal aid, translation services -- but I can get mad as hell and yell about it and do art about it, and I guess that counts for something.
