Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Seven Years with Hard Labour: Stories of Burmese Political Prisoners

2009; University of Oklahoma; Volume: 83; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/wlt.2009.0362

1945-8134

Sara Masters,

Global Political and Social Dynamics

3 Seven Years with Hard Labour Stories ofBurmese Political Prisoners Sara Masters Iceandfire'slatesttestimony scripttellsthestoriesofindividuals who have endured harsh sentences for speakingout against theBurmese regime. Now living in the United Kingdsom, theex-politicalprisonersshare theirexperiencesand ongoing commitment toraisinginternational awarenessaboutwhat isreally going on inside Burma's borders. eople are hungry to know about what is happening inBurma. As demonstrated by JL the recent success of the award-winning Burma VJ,demand forreal stories from inside the country ishigh. But, as the filmreaffirmed,telling those storiesputs individuals in realdanger,with many making great personal sacrifices. Such dangers are personified by thenotorious (as he describes himself) Zarganar, the Burmese comedian who made internationalheadlines last yearwhen he received a thirty-five-year sentence fortalking to the foreign media about theregime's slow response to theCyclone Nargis disaster. This hugely disproportionate response by theMyan mar government starts to put into context the constant struggle that the Burmese people have endured forover forty years and what individuals likeZarganar tryto illuminate through their work. In Zarganar's case, the huge impact of his work has propelled him to international recognition. Winner of both the Fund for Free Expression's Lillian Hellman and Dashiel Hammett Award and PEN Canada's One Humanity Award, he also became the first winner of the "Imprisoned Artist" category of theArtVenture Freedom to Create Prize in2008. This prize was, although no one knew itthen, thecatalyst forour script,Seven Years withHard Labour Zarganar was keen touse thepublicity these awards brought todraw atten tion to themany thousands of Burmese people who have sacrificed their freedom to voice their opposition to the regime and raise awareness of what is happening in their country. Some, like him, remain in Burma's prisons; others, like the subjects of thescript,have made thedifficultdeci sion to leave Burma, coming to countries such as November-December 2009 i55 Editorial note:Allof iceandfire's outreach scripts, including Seven Years, are available on a rolling basis and can be seen across theUnitedKingdomand have also been hosted internationally. For more information about how to book a performance or where to see one, please visitwww.iceandfire. co.uk. To find out more about the work of Index on Censorship, go towww. indexoncensorship.org. Sara Masters isco-artistic director of iceandfire. theUnited Kingdom to protect themselves and their families and develop international support to strengthen the campaign. Our focus at iceandfire is to explore human rights stories through performance. We main tainworking relationshipswith many NGOs and campaigning organizations, and we were already working closely with Index on Censorship, Brit ain's leading organization promoting freedom of expression, whose award-winning magazine shines a light on these vital issues. Their cul tural arm, Index Arts, approached us to help them respond to Zarganar's request. Together we decided to create a documentary script telling the stories of Burmese ex-political prisoners who now continue Burma's struggle in the United Kingdom, and Seven Years with Hard Labour was born. Iceandfire is primarily a theatre company, creating fictional plays that engage with and humanize often complex and contentious human rights issues, but in 2006 we added a new string toour bow with the launch of our pioneering out reach network, Actors for Human Rights. Made up of over fourhundred professional performers who donate their time tohelp draw public atten tion to contemporary human rights concerns, the network has become a unique force in theBritish campaigning landscape. Utilizing actors' unique strength?the ability to communicate and engage with a live audience?we tell, using their own words, the often invisible stories of people who are, in many cases, on the periphery of main stream society: asylum seekers, undocumented migrants, and people living inpoverty, togive just a few examples. First-hand interviews are edited, without embellishment or addition, into a sixty minute script thatweaves together up to seven or eight individuals' experiences. Performed as rehearsed readings (tokeep thework as portable and economical as possible), the scriptshave been seen by over twenty thousand people with audi ences ranging fromuniversity students toprofes sional bodies to the theatre-goingpublic. Inorder togenerate therawmaterial forSeven Years, Christine Bacon (co-artistic director of ice andfire) and myself sat down at thekitchen table ofVicky Bowman (formerBritishAmbassador to Burma...