Fragments Podcast

Rank & File Theatre in partnership with Arts Council England, Reading City of Sanctuary and UEL OLIve, and Reading Refugee Support Group premiered a six-part series of short films documenting the lives of refugees and asylum seekers. The films, each individual and unique were written by refugees originally as a part of a writing event during the pandemic. However, as the lockdowns of last year ensued, they turned into projects of playwriting, performance and expression. Former Chair of Reading Refugee Support Group and City of Sanctuary Trustee Alice Mpofu-Coles began the evening by saying: “Sometimes it is not just the voice that helps, but the art that makes a difference” The first film, We are not Party to the Theft by OLIve Alumni Elizabeth Achola saw a group of freedom fights take on the oppressing military. Although there was a clear leader, each message of unity was always said in unison, and in particular: “We refuse this shame election. We will not be party to the theft.”. The theme of unity against all odds was a powerful start to the evening, and helped the audience understand that although each film was a different aspect of each personal story, their unity in art is what brought them together. Following Elizabeth’s powerful message of unity was Oliver Mbolokele’s Hostile Environment, which was a powerful and direct message to the Home Office. Staged in a home office interview, Oliver is repeatedly asked questions along the lines of “Who are you?” and “What is your status?”, to which he replies: “My status is love. My status is loyalty. My status is my time.”. His true response to the never-ending Home Office questions is one that stays with the audience, who are the only ones in this short film that truly see him as he is – an individual with thoughts and feelings that go beyond a name on a piece of paper. Merry’s Violent Bureaucracy followed suit with the theme of the inhumanity of the Home Office, with a glimpse into the never-ending anxiety that comes to a head when you receive that one brown envelope that will decide your fate. Unable to open it, and unable to face what might be inside, Merry gave the audience an insight into the impact of the Home Office’s decisions has on one’s mental health. Taking a different angle of the refugee experience, Mary Juan Perino’s My Story shows her life before she came to the UK, with fond tales of climbing up trees to peer into the classroom, never stopping the fight to access education. Caleb Gomez’s My Great Zimbabwe, however, tells a not so pleasant story of his life before coming to the UK, with violence repression of free speech over taking his life. The final piece was a collaboration between Jude Haste, Oliver Mbolokele, Elizabeth Achola, Caleb Gomez and OLIve Alumni Thabo Makayuna called Margins of Innocence, a portrayal of the neverending fight to truly be oneself as an asylum seeker, a “perpetual lockdown”. Thabo said on the piece: “This piece was written because one can, in this country, write like this. Most of us are from countries that are dictatorships, and if we wrote, performed and published like this, we would for sure be abducted and killed for speaking out. That’s why I wrote this”. This piece was a compilation of poems and speeches revealing the true desires of the participants; to go home, to provide for their families and to be happy. The evening’s final piece left the audience emotive, thoughtful and inspired, and was a perfect round-off to an evening of refugee and asylum seeker expression, that we can only hope to see more of. After all, sometimes it is not just the voice that helps, but the art that makes a difference. Fragments can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/readingrefugees/videos/308104104199151/