From Theatre Against Torture Guantanamo Working Group, New York City. This text describes a piece of public theatre that seeks to dramatize the horrors of U.S. detention policies in the “war on terror” and the particular shame of Guantanamo. The performance, which may be conducted indoors or outdoors, requires 7 participants and some props. It lasts 8-10 minutes.

Below it is described as it was performed three times in Times Square in New York City on May 19, 2007, across from the famous U.S. Army recruiting center. Your group may naturally perform it with whatever variations, amendments, deletions, or additions you feel make the piece stronger or are best suited to your purposes. Some performance notes and comments on props, costumes, etc., follow the run-through of the piece.

Props

- one large “middle eastern” carpet such a kilim or berber rug
- one watering can, preferably metal
- one staff or walking stick
- two orange jumpsuits and two black hoods
- two 8-10 foot aluminum stepladders
- two buckets
- 1-2 gallons of water
- confetti/shredded paper
- “bounty” leaflets
- a snare or other drum
- a loud bell or gong
- 16 or so large signs or “flashcards” with simple words printed in large black type
- a U.S. flag (optional) and banner

Characters/Stage Hands

- ‘the Afghani’ (the main detainee)
- a second detainee
- a narrator/signholder
- two soldiers/guards
- a ‘warlord’
- a drummer and/or bell ringer
- the narrator’s assistant

• A drum begins to beat, attracting a crowd. Two cast members unfurl and place the carpet, setting off a performance space and beginning the piece.
• A single, simply dressed person — the “narrator” — sets up a ladder at one edge of the carpet and climbs atop it. The narrator’s assistant stands at the side of the ladder with a series of flashcards, ready to hand them to the narrator.
• A bell/gong rings and the narrator lifts a card reading Afghanistan, displaying it to all members of the gathering crowd.
• A single man in Afghan dress emerges from the crowd with a staff and a watering can, walking about the carpeted area and watering, in a gentle way, imaginary plants.
• After a few moments the Afghani moves to the center of the carpet, sets down the watering can, and kneels down, holding his staff. The narrator holds a card reading A Man, pausing for the crowd to take in the scene
• A drum begins to bang chaotically in short, machine-gun like bursts. The narrator lifts a card: A War – October 2001. Two men, in simple “soldier” dress (hereafter “the soldiers”) emerge from the wings and rush toward and into the crowd yelling “bounty,” “Taliban,” “Al Qaeda,” “American dollars,” and the like.. While yelling, they pass out leaflets with a reproduction of the ‘bounty’ text distributed by the CIA in Afghanistan and Pakistan offering huge sums for the turning over of “terror suspects.” (The leaflet should explain the use of bounties and cite stats on how few of the Gitmo detainees were actually captured by U.S. forces). A third person, the “warlord” should move about the crowd pointing at random people and yelling “You! You!” Soon, he points to the Afghani, and moves slowly toward him, yelling in a steady rhythym “Him! Him!”. All other yelling stops and the Warlord yells over the Afghani “HIM!”, point sharply at his head. The soliders walk toward the men, kicking over the watering can, grabbing the staff and placing it, horizontally, across the back shoulders of the Afghani, who slings his arms over the staff, signifying his capture. (The warlord, during this, moves behind the Afghani). The soldiers then hand money to the Warlord, framing the exchange. The narrator then holds a sign reading: A Bounty.
• The warlord walks away, grabs an orange jumpsuit and throws it in a ball at the Afghani, hitting his body. The soldiers remove the staff, somewhat violently force the Afghani into the jumpsuit, grab his head and place a black hood (taken from a soldier’s pocket) over it. They then shove the detainee forward and to the right, near the narrator’s ladder. The narrator holds a sign: An Enemy Combatant. All pause to frame the scene.
• While the last action is taking place a second detainee in jumpsuit and hood – ideally someone relatively light – lays on the second ladder, which is lying on the ground “offstage” near the first ladder. The soldiers come to that ladder, lift it and the detainee, and carefully carry them across the carpet, opposite the first ladder. They place the ladder down and, in unison push the detainee off of it with the heels of their boots. The detainee rolls over a couple times and slowly rises to his/her knees, with head bowed, where s/he stays throughout the performance. The soldiers then erect the second ladder, one soldier climbs atop it, and is handed a sign by the Warlord (who is now the assistant to the soldier on the ladder). The soldier holds high a sign reading: Guantanamo. That side of the whole scene has now become the camp.
• The second soldier then brings the first detainee, standing all the while near the first ladder, to “Guantanamo.” The soldier begins to walk back and forth, as if keeping guard. The narrator steps off the first ladder and hands to the detainee a sign, somewhat conspiratorially, reading: Habeas Corpus=Fair Trial. The detainee holds it up defiantly to the audience, drawing the notice to the soldier atop the second ladder, who alerts the guard with “Hey! Hey!”. The guard angrily snatches the subversive sign away and resumes pacing. This is repeated with the signs: Geneva Conventions and No Torture.
• After this last sign, the guard brings the detainee to right below the ladder. The Warlord hands a bucket of water to the soldier on top of the ladder. He/she then pours it slowly over the head of the detainee. While the water is pouring, the narrator on the first ladder holds up signs reading: Beatings then Dogs then Water Boarding.
• Finally, the narrator, who is now back on the ladder, holds up a sign reading U.S. Constitution. The Warlord hands a second bucket to the soldier, who feigns that it is heavy, and empties from it shredded pieces of paper, symbolizing the shredding of the Constitution. The detainee falls to his knees, sadly picking up the shredded paper and having it fall through his hands.
• * * * VARIATION * * *
• Alternately: after the water boarding the guard returns the detainees to “center stage.” The narrator comes to the detainee, hands him a big rolled up scroll, comforts him, and lifts the hood up so his eyes are exposed, and returns to the ladder. The detainee unrolls it, and feigns reading with fast pivots of his head. When he seizes text’s meaning he turns to the narrator with an expression of wild-eyed gratitude, moves toward the crowd, and displays defiantly the U.S. Constitution (a greatly enlarged photocopy from a parchment reproduction of the actual Constitution, such as can be purchased from many gift shops). The solider on the ladder alerts the guard, who literally rips the Constitution away. During this the narrator holds up the flashcard: U.S. Constitution. The guard re-hoods the detainee, brings him to the soldier on the ladder, who now dumps the bucket of shredded paper. . .
• The narrator holds up a sign saying One Year, yells “one year!,” a single drumbeat sounds, and the entire cast yells in unison, “Never Charged!” Then a sign Two Years, “two years,” two drumbeats, and the chorus of “Never Charged.” This yelling, drumbeat, yelling repeats for three years, four years, and five years. After this, the soldier atop the ladder holds up a final sign reading: Forever?

Everyone stands silent for a short while. Two people come out with a sign with some appropriate slogan such as “We Are All Responsible,” the drum beats rat-tat-tat-rat-tat-tat, and the performance ends.

Costumes/Props

Simple Afghan dress may include a brimless wool hat and a long collarless shirt.
The soldiers need only war all black (uniform like) and boots, and have simple black “special forces” style caps
The Warlord need not be costumed.

The signs are vital to the entire performance. They must be legible and, ideally, look good. We bought 20 X 32 thick poster board from a supply store. We then made pdf files of all the words on the signs (A War; A Man, etc.), brought them to a photocopy shop (a Kinkos) and had them printed to fit the dimensions of the poster board. We then used spray glue to affix the signs to the poster board. We put the wording on the front and back of the poster board, when possible, so the signs could simply be flipped around. If you do this, make sure to map out the precise sequence of the signs. Each flashcard ended up costing about $5.

For the hoods we use simple black pillowcases, through which one can somewhat easily see.

Performance

The whole thing works best if executed with solemnity and precision. The most important role clearly is the Afghani/Detainee, who must convey a sense of peaceful solitude, then fear, then despair, then defiance, and then despair again. Exaggerated body language can convey each of these states. The soldiers were best when gruff and even a little menacing. It can be hard to act heartless and cruel, but this enhances the dramatic effect. It’s also important to ramp up the energy when the war scene hits, and create a sense of chaos and confusion.

* * * Important – in our first performance we had the soldiers run through the crowd yelling “money for terrorists! Help us capture terrorists!” A NYC policemen grew furious and almost arrested them! His concern – very understandable – was that the tourist throng would fly into a panic hearing the word “terrorist” yelled in Times Square. We saw his point, apologized, and used the more innocuous “Bounty! Taliban!” in the next two stagings. Avoid, in sum, the word “terrorist” if it may create security and crowd problems.

Only a small amount of water, perhaps a quart, need be poured on the detainee. For three performances we brought two gallons.

The drum and bell or gong are for effect and to attract or hold the audience’s attention. Experiment with where they can be used to add drama. The bell slowly ringing worked well during the “torture” scene.

The whole thing certainly needs to be rehearsed to be done well, but can be mastered after just two or three practices. Last, thanks for doing this important work in this inventive way. Do let us know how it goes and if you made any improvements to the piece!!!

SHUT DOWN GUANTANAMO!
Witness Against Torture.