Actors rally for refugees
Port Phillip-Caulfield Leader
16 June 2003
In late 2001, actors Kate Atkinson and Alice Garner started chatting while at a rally protesting the Federal Government's response to the Tampa asylum seekers.
The plight of asylum seekers had been on both women's minds in the preceding weeks.
While Ms Atkinson, of St Kilda, was a member of Amnesty International, Ms Garner, of Fitzroy North, had been disturbed by a Four Corners story about conditions at Villawood Detention Centre.
The pair became convinced that, as performers, they could contribute to the debate about the important issue.
Ms Atkinson said an initial idea to 'put on some kind of presentation' led to the foundation of Actors for Refugees.
'Initially, it was just the two of us wanting to get a bunch of mates together,' Ms Atkinson said.
'We felt there was a representation of refugees that people were just not seeing.
'They were not really seeing these people as refugees. They saw them as a problem, a burden and an issue that had to be solved.'
Actors for Refugees' first performance, Club Refuge, was launched early last year as a 'one-off, smallish affair'.
This weekend, the group will launch its most ambitious project, Something to Declare, at the CUB Malthouse.
Hosted by Claudia Karvan and featuring a cast of volunteer performers, the production will feature stories of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia.
Ms Atkinson said considerable research had gone into the show, including visiting detention centres and getting to know asylum seekers.
She said local playwright Michael Gurr had woven together letters from refugees, information about detention centres and testimony from Australians who had worked with refugees.
'Michael gave it a dramatic structure. The performance is all first-person testimony; he hasn't made anything up.
'This is like the launch of a product and for the next year, we're going to try to find a way of getting it to as many and as varied audiences as we can.'
Something to Declare is at The Beckett Theatre, CUB Malthouse, 113 Sturt St, Southbank, Saturday, June 21, 2.30pm.
RSVP mail@actorsforrefugees.org or phone Emma Beech on 0414 369 946 by June 18. Entry is free but donations will be forwarded to the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre.
16 June 2003
In late 2001, actors Kate Atkinson and Alice Garner started chatting while at a rally protesting the Federal Government's response to the Tampa asylum seekers.
The plight of asylum seekers had been on both women's minds in the preceding weeks.
While Ms Atkinson, of St Kilda, was a member of Amnesty International, Ms Garner, of Fitzroy North, had been disturbed by a Four Corners story about conditions at Villawood Detention Centre.
The pair became convinced that, as performers, they could contribute to the debate about the important issue.
Ms Atkinson said an initial idea to 'put on some kind of presentation' led to the foundation of Actors for Refugees.
'Initially, it was just the two of us wanting to get a bunch of mates together,' Ms Atkinson said.
'We felt there was a representation of refugees that people were just not seeing.
'They were not really seeing these people as refugees. They saw them as a problem, a burden and an issue that had to be solved.'
Actors for Refugees' first performance, Club Refuge, was launched early last year as a 'one-off, smallish affair'.
This weekend, the group will launch its most ambitious project, Something to Declare, at the CUB Malthouse.
Hosted by Claudia Karvan and featuring a cast of volunteer performers, the production will feature stories of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia.
Ms Atkinson said considerable research had gone into the show, including visiting detention centres and getting to know asylum seekers.
She said local playwright Michael Gurr had woven together letters from refugees, information about detention centres and testimony from Australians who had worked with refugees.
'Michael gave it a dramatic structure. The performance is all first-person testimony; he hasn't made anything up.
'This is like the launch of a product and for the next year, we're going to try to find a way of getting it to as many and as varied audiences as we can.'
Something to Declare is at The Beckett Theatre, CUB Malthouse, 113 Sturt St, Southbank, Saturday, June 21, 2.30pm.
RSVP mail@actorsforrefugees.org or phone Emma Beech on 0414 369 946 by June 18. Entry is free but donations will be forwarded to the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre.
posted by Actors for Refugees at 5:58 PM
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