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| Hannah Khalil: ‘With theatre you can get into people’s hearts’ | Hannah Khalil: ‘With theatre you can get into people’s hearts’ |
| (7 months later) | |
| The Palestinian-Irish playwright talks about the challenges of researching The Scar Test, her new play about the plight of women at Yarl’s Wood detention centre | |
| Kathryn Bromwich | |
| Sun 25 Jun 2017 08.30 BST | |
| Last modified on Sat 2 Dec 2017 14.36 GMT | |
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| Hannah Khalil’s new play, The Scar Test, set in Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre, is based on two years of research. The award-winning Palestinian-Irish playwright grew up in Dubai and the UK, and her work includes the James Tait Black prize-nominated Scenes from 68* Years (Arcola), The Deportation Room (Radio 4) and the Meyer-Whitworth award-nominated Plan D (Tristan Bates). The Scar Test, which is produced by Untold Arts, has been nominated for a Kevin Spacey Foundation Award. | Hannah Khalil’s new play, The Scar Test, set in Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre, is based on two years of research. The award-winning Palestinian-Irish playwright grew up in Dubai and the UK, and her work includes the James Tait Black prize-nominated Scenes from 68* Years (Arcola), The Deportation Room (Radio 4) and the Meyer-Whitworth award-nominated Plan D (Tristan Bates). The Scar Test, which is produced by Untold Arts, has been nominated for a Kevin Spacey Foundation Award. |
| What is The Scar Test about? It tries to give a snapshot of what life is like in detention. I want the audience to come out thinking, “I can’t believe this is England.” There are brilliant documentaries about Yarl’s Wood and detention, but with theatre you can get into people’s hearts in a more visceral way. | What is The Scar Test about? It tries to give a snapshot of what life is like in detention. I want the audience to come out thinking, “I can’t believe this is England.” There are brilliant documentaries about Yarl’s Wood and detention, but with theatre you can get into people’s hearts in a more visceral way. |
| What did you find out in your research? I was shocked and upset at every single stage. I felt privileged to meet some women being detained: they were strong, dignified, and coping in very difficult situations. No victims there. They made me laugh, they made me sad, and they made me think about my own privilege – all of our privilege. | What did you find out in your research? I was shocked and upset at every single stage. I felt privileged to meet some women being detained: they were strong, dignified, and coping in very difficult situations. No victims there. They made me laugh, they made me sad, and they made me think about my own privilege – all of our privilege. |
| What was the centre like? Eye-opening. I had to bring my passport, have my fingerprints taken, my retina scanned. I felt anxious and nervous, as though I’d done something wrong. I felt scared. I live in the UK and have a British passport, and I got to leave at the end, so I was surprised I felt like that. It made me think, how must these women feel? | What was the centre like? Eye-opening. I had to bring my passport, have my fingerprints taken, my retina scanned. I felt anxious and nervous, as though I’d done something wrong. I felt scared. I live in the UK and have a British passport, and I got to leave at the end, so I was surprised I felt like that. It made me think, how must these women feel? |
| One of the women I met talked and talked about action films, but of course it’s a means of escape | One of the women I met talked and talked about action films, but of course it’s a means of escape |
| What did you find most shocking? When I realised how many women were being visited by their children – I have a daughter who’s five, and I found that so distressing. As I was leaving, I went to one door, and the last lady I’d seen went to the other door, and I couldn’t get over the fact that through my door was the outside world, normality, I’d come home and have dinner with my family, but she was going back into incarceration. I felt terrible I couldn’t take her with me. | What did you find most shocking? When I realised how many women were being visited by their children – I have a daughter who’s five, and I found that so distressing. As I was leaving, I went to one door, and the last lady I’d seen went to the other door, and I couldn’t get over the fact that through my door was the outside world, normality, I’d come home and have dinner with my family, but she was going back into incarceration. I felt terrible I couldn’t take her with me. |
| What did you find out about solitary confinement there? There’s a wing called Kingfisher where they put women they think are at risk of harming themselves. It’s so that they can be watched closely, but in no world where someone is that vulnerable is that the right thing to do. They’re treated like prisoners. The thing that really troubled me is that talking to middle-class, educated people I know, there’s a presumption of guilt: “If they’re there it’s because they’ve done something wrong, isn’t it?” It’s absolutely not the case. If there was evidence of criminal behaviour they’d be deported immediately. | What did you find out about solitary confinement there? There’s a wing called Kingfisher where they put women they think are at risk of harming themselves. It’s so that they can be watched closely, but in no world where someone is that vulnerable is that the right thing to do. They’re treated like prisoners. The thing that really troubled me is that talking to middle-class, educated people I know, there’s a presumption of guilt: “If they’re there it’s because they’ve done something wrong, isn’t it?” It’s absolutely not the case. If there was evidence of criminal behaviour they’d be deported immediately. |
| There seem to be people trying to help, like solicitors and volunteers, but what are the challenges? I spoke to a solicitor, and he’s an amazing person, but it feels like the system is very stacked against them. There’s a real push to be seen to be deporting people. The “befrienders” are volunteers who give up their time to just go and chat to people every week. They also help with things like money – women inside are given 71p a day, so it takes a really long time to have enough credit on your phone to be able to call anyone, to tell your family where you are. | There seem to be people trying to help, like solicitors and volunteers, but what are the challenges? I spoke to a solicitor, and he’s an amazing person, but it feels like the system is very stacked against them. There’s a real push to be seen to be deporting people. The “befrienders” are volunteers who give up their time to just go and chat to people every week. They also help with things like money – women inside are given 71p a day, so it takes a really long time to have enough credit on your phone to be able to call anyone, to tell your family where you are. |
| Theatre and confinement seem to have a connection – Samuel Beckett collaborating with ex-convict Rick Cluchey, plays in prisons. Why do you think the two things go together? One of the women I met talked and talked about action films, it was all she wanted to talk to me about. I found it quite bizarre, but of course it’s a means of escape. And it’s the same with theatre: the world of the imagination is a freeing thing. | Theatre and confinement seem to have a connection – Samuel Beckett collaborating with ex-convict Rick Cluchey, plays in prisons. Why do you think the two things go together? One of the women I met talked and talked about action films, it was all she wanted to talk to me about. I found it quite bizarre, but of course it’s a means of escape. And it’s the same with theatre: the world of the imagination is a freeing thing. |
| Most of your plays are quite political. Would you ever write a romantic comedy or something with no political aspect whatsoever? Absolutely. A lot of my plays normally come from a personal family setting, and there’s a lot of dark humour. My last play is about Palestine, but there are a couple of scenes that have people really guffawing. My agent said to me afterwards, “I think we should start billing you as a comedy writer.” But I do feel like you can’t get away from the political if you want to write something really meaningful: with my background being Palestinian-Irish, I suspect it’s why I have a keen sense of injustice, and that’s the thing that inspires me to write. | Most of your plays are quite political. Would you ever write a romantic comedy or something with no political aspect whatsoever? Absolutely. A lot of my plays normally come from a personal family setting, and there’s a lot of dark humour. My last play is about Palestine, but there are a couple of scenes that have people really guffawing. My agent said to me afterwards, “I think we should start billing you as a comedy writer.” But I do feel like you can’t get away from the political if you want to write something really meaningful: with my background being Palestinian-Irish, I suspect it’s why I have a keen sense of injustice, and that’s the thing that inspires me to write. |
| The Scar Test is at the Soho theatre, London, 5-22 July | The Scar Test is at the Soho theatre, London, 5-22 July |
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