AFLOAT is a powerfully thought-provoking performance piece presented in association with Asylum Link Merseyside. Director Phoebe McSweeney has assembled a text throughout a series of workshops with both asylum seekers themselves and those who work alongside them through the tortuous and lengthy application process.
A dystopian vision set in a fictional city, the story is framed around the strained relationship between two neighbours. Angela is a candidate for the right wing Blue Party, while Sam is a community worker who assists asylum seekers arriving in the UK. At first Sam thinks Angela is a decent sort of person, until she learns of her politics as the latter runs for election. When the Blue Party come into power, buoyed by the support of those who resist migration, it becomes clear that their manifesto was a smokescreen for hard line policies, and the country is thrown into turmoil. Anyone suspected of disagreeing with the government is arrested, including eventually Angela herself.
As fear and oppression grow, everyone begins to learn how it feels to live under a despotic regime, with the disembodied voice of the Party Leader broadcast Big-Brother-like to the nation.
Joanna Nsianguana and Amy Murphy lead a large ensemble cast including Awa, Donna, Fadi, Kadisha, John, Nzuzi, Rohan, Yayan and Ulysses, through a series of scenes, some traditionally dramatised and some more choreographed as physical theatre, whilst atmospheric musical accompaniment is provided by George Jenkins.
The storytelling is episodic and, although it centres around Sam and Angela, it is at its most powerful when the cast are speaking about the experience of being within the asylum system. Although they have been ashore for many months or even years as their applications are processed, they are made to feel as though they have never got off the boat. They are held in a state of limbo, unable to put down roots, build relationships or lead productive lives – on dry land but nevertheless slowly drowning.
The text, much of which clearly draws verbatim from workshops, is both potent and moving, whether in English or in the occasional passages delivered in the languages of those speaking. The story itself, although harrowing, succeeds in finding an optimistic outlook in the humanity that is discovered along the way, and the ending of the hour long work feels like a glimmer of sunrise on the horizon.
Afloat was given two initial performances at Liverpool Lighthouse in Anfield and the piece, which is in continued development, hopes soon to travel to other venues to educate and dispel prejudice.
Review by Nigel Smith
