Making a difference
'Equity' (the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance magazine)
Autumn 2004
Anne Phelan and many of her colleagues are involved with Actors for Refugees and here are their stories.
Actors for Refugees (AFR) was started by Kate Atkinson and Alice Garner in 2001. By using skills as actors and performers, AFR tells the stories of people affected by Australia's harsh stance on asylum seekers and refugees. In the past 12 months, AFR has presented more than 350 shows to many thousands of people, including thousands of high school students, and has raised more than $13,000. The money goes to refugee support organisations such as the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre (ASRC) and to some specific cases. If you would like to get involved or if you'd like more information, visit the website at www.actorsforrefugees.org.
Anne Phelan
Early in 2002, while taking the slow and scenic route from Victoria to Western Australia, I found myself on the veranda of a pub in a small, picturesque fishing village on the south-west coast of South Australia. As I ate my lunch and gazed out at the harbour and beyond, I couldn't help but overhear the conversation of the three men at the next table. I would put them in their late 60s or early 70s, retired, probably fathers and grandfathers. They were the sort of blokes you see at every Lions Club community fundraiser, manning the sausage sizzle or selling the raffle tickets. Ordinary, nice, compassionate, loving Aussie blokes. They were discussing fishing - the type you catch, in which waters, the size'
The conversation shifted to sharks and how, with sharks, there's nothing left of their prey. Then they moved to something that chilled me. In the same casual tone, one man said that sharks, of course, were the solution to the boat people. That the navy should just tow them offshore, sink the boats and let the sharks do the rest. Nothing left. No evidence. The others muttered their agreement and the conversation went into other fishing stories.
Actors for Refugees helps balance the lies, innuendo and cover-ups surrounding these desperate people who find themselves landing on our shores. It is empowering and humbling to be able to tell the stories about refugees, to know that people will listen to a well-told story. Take the two blokes who rolled up to a performance of Michael Gurr's Something to Declare in Queenscliff, a seaside town in rural Victoria. They had seen a poster in their regular pub and decided to have a sticky-beak at the actors. After the performance, one was too choked up to speak but his mate, with tears in his eyes, just said: 'Jeez, I'm bloody glad I came. I didn't know any of that stuff.'
I just wish the three fishermen could hear our storytelling.
Syd Brisbane
I have been involved with Actors for Refugees for two years. I am ashamed of the Government's stance on refugees - they obviously have a very selective memory. I want to do everything possible to make these people feel welcome in my country. Over the past six months, we have been performing Something to Declare in high schools. On August 8, we performed at Sacred Heart College, in Geelong, for 200 students. After the performance, a Year 11 girl approached me and said: 'Before today, I thought all refugees were criminals. Thankyou.' That is why I do this.
David Tredinnick
I had always been a supporter of the aims and objectives of Actors for Refugees, yet still harboured an uncomfortable kernel of doubt regarding the actor's 'political voice'. Do we have the authority to make political statements? Do we run the risk of being accused of political naivety, thereby undermining the causes we seek to support? There is a very real danger when actors step outside of the roles they are contracted to play, and begin to speak in their own voice. If that voice falters, the actors risk ridicule and their statements are easily written off as both uninformed and illegitimate.
When that voice is used to communicate plain truth, as in the case of shows like Club Refuge and Something to Declare, the impact is powerful and immediate. When actors present the information and personal testimonies in these two shows simply and without sentiment, the effect on audiences is overwhelming. I have been privileged to be part of both these shows on one occasion each. I believe that AFR has managed to create a platform upon which actors can voice their dissent without the risk of looking like a goose. Their work is 'actorvism' at its finest.
Jema Stellato Pledger, AFR Treasurer
Performing with AFR has been an exhilarating experience as you feel that you are doing something to get the message across. One can feel quite impotent when hearing about the problems in our country regarding refugees and asylum seekers, and working on shows helps alleviate these feelings. As I am also working at the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre on the legal team, I gather a lot of new information that can be included in performances, which grow and change constantly. If we make at least one person think differently, our work is making a difference. Besides, I thoroughly enjoy writing cheques, knowing they will go where there is real need.
Alice Garner
Reading the paper is depressing and distressing these days. But performing to audiences, especially school groups who drink in refugees' personal stories and who seem to come alive afterwards with the desire to do something positive like write letters, visit detainees, make a connection with refugees living in the community, makes the daily dose of news a little more bearable. Because I know we're doing something and people are responding wholeheartedly.
Making friends in the refugee community, and performing alongside them in Kan Yama Kan, has been an extraordinary, life-changing experience. So has writing to a teenage girl on Nauru and encouraging her to keep her hopes alive in the face of an endless, hellish limbo. She has sent me embroideries and sketches with her letters. I treasure them and my contact with her.
I urge all actors out there to use their skills in this way. Join AFR or start your own group. Be assured: telling stories really does make a difference.
Jeremy Lindsay Taylor
What did you want to be when you were 11? I wanted to be a tuna fisherman like our gold medal-winning weightlifter Dean Lukin. An 11-year-old girl, seeking her human right to a safe new life, wanted to die after being locked up in an Australian detention centre. She attempted suicide, hanging herself with a bed sheet. If there is anything I can do to help prevent such atrocities to others, I will do it.
Michael Gurr
Working with AFR this year was a great cure for despair. I had heard 'But what can I do?' so many times that defeatism had almost got me. But the cure was pretty simple, after all. Together we built a show called Something to Declare, which has been performed around Victoria. I compiled actual testimony from asylum seekers - some in prison and some living on the cruel Temporary Protection Visa. Alice Garner brought the music in and various casts have performed it since then. We're going to release the CD.
Never let anyone tell you there's nothing you can do. Let empathy and spare time become weapons against this crummy system. Indignation plus persistence equals change. Something to Declare needs four actors and a muso or two. It's available. You can find AFR on the web.
Diana Greentree
Well I can't NOT do it. Why? Because after 40 years in the business, I have at last found a way of using my performance skills in a way that has real meaning for me. As I witnessed men, women and children calling out from behind the razor wire at Woomera Detention Centre, thanking Australian people for caring about them, I decided then and there to become as active as possible.
As I witness school children, mouths agape, often in tears, listening to the truth about Australia's treatment of refugees, I am aware of the enormous responsibility we in AFR have to present a different side of the story from that presented by the Government, which is intent on dehumanising these largely innocent people. A question asked by more than one school child is: 'Why do human beings treat other human beings in this way?' So you see why I do it.
Bruce Myles
I remember a famous address by a footy coach at half time of a grand final: 'At least do something,' he bellowed at his players. 'Don't think. Don't hope. Do.' So it's as simple as that.
Corinne Grant
Like many people, I was appalled at the way the asylum seekers aboard the Tampa were treated. It seemed unbelievable to me that a country that had always prided itself on its 'fair go' attitude had so suddenly and so vehemently reneged on that. AFR is such a positive way to use the skills I have as a performer to help communicate an issue that I am passionate about. I have met some wonderful people through AFR and I have learnt so much more about the hardships facing asylum seekers in Australia. There are so many misconceptions and half-truths surrounding asylum seekers and refugees. Being involved means that I am able to help tell people the truth.
Autumn 2004
Anne Phelan and many of her colleagues are involved with Actors for Refugees and here are their stories.
Actors for Refugees (AFR) was started by Kate Atkinson and Alice Garner in 2001. By using skills as actors and performers, AFR tells the stories of people affected by Australia's harsh stance on asylum seekers and refugees. In the past 12 months, AFR has presented more than 350 shows to many thousands of people, including thousands of high school students, and has raised more than $13,000. The money goes to refugee support organisations such as the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre (ASRC) and to some specific cases. If you would like to get involved or if you'd like more information, visit the website at www.actorsforrefugees.org.
Anne Phelan
Early in 2002, while taking the slow and scenic route from Victoria to Western Australia, I found myself on the veranda of a pub in a small, picturesque fishing village on the south-west coast of South Australia. As I ate my lunch and gazed out at the harbour and beyond, I couldn't help but overhear the conversation of the three men at the next table. I would put them in their late 60s or early 70s, retired, probably fathers and grandfathers. They were the sort of blokes you see at every Lions Club community fundraiser, manning the sausage sizzle or selling the raffle tickets. Ordinary, nice, compassionate, loving Aussie blokes. They were discussing fishing - the type you catch, in which waters, the size'
The conversation shifted to sharks and how, with sharks, there's nothing left of their prey. Then they moved to something that chilled me. In the same casual tone, one man said that sharks, of course, were the solution to the boat people. That the navy should just tow them offshore, sink the boats and let the sharks do the rest. Nothing left. No evidence. The others muttered their agreement and the conversation went into other fishing stories.
Actors for Refugees helps balance the lies, innuendo and cover-ups surrounding these desperate people who find themselves landing on our shores. It is empowering and humbling to be able to tell the stories about refugees, to know that people will listen to a well-told story. Take the two blokes who rolled up to a performance of Michael Gurr's Something to Declare in Queenscliff, a seaside town in rural Victoria. They had seen a poster in their regular pub and decided to have a sticky-beak at the actors. After the performance, one was too choked up to speak but his mate, with tears in his eyes, just said: 'Jeez, I'm bloody glad I came. I didn't know any of that stuff.'
I just wish the three fishermen could hear our storytelling.
Syd Brisbane
I have been involved with Actors for Refugees for two years. I am ashamed of the Government's stance on refugees - they obviously have a very selective memory. I want to do everything possible to make these people feel welcome in my country. Over the past six months, we have been performing Something to Declare in high schools. On August 8, we performed at Sacred Heart College, in Geelong, for 200 students. After the performance, a Year 11 girl approached me and said: 'Before today, I thought all refugees were criminals. Thankyou.' That is why I do this.
David Tredinnick
I had always been a supporter of the aims and objectives of Actors for Refugees, yet still harboured an uncomfortable kernel of doubt regarding the actor's 'political voice'. Do we have the authority to make political statements? Do we run the risk of being accused of political naivety, thereby undermining the causes we seek to support? There is a very real danger when actors step outside of the roles they are contracted to play, and begin to speak in their own voice. If that voice falters, the actors risk ridicule and their statements are easily written off as both uninformed and illegitimate.
When that voice is used to communicate plain truth, as in the case of shows like Club Refuge and Something to Declare, the impact is powerful and immediate. When actors present the information and personal testimonies in these two shows simply and without sentiment, the effect on audiences is overwhelming. I have been privileged to be part of both these shows on one occasion each. I believe that AFR has managed to create a platform upon which actors can voice their dissent without the risk of looking like a goose. Their work is 'actorvism' at its finest.
Jema Stellato Pledger, AFR Treasurer
Performing with AFR has been an exhilarating experience as you feel that you are doing something to get the message across. One can feel quite impotent when hearing about the problems in our country regarding refugees and asylum seekers, and working on shows helps alleviate these feelings. As I am also working at the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre on the legal team, I gather a lot of new information that can be included in performances, which grow and change constantly. If we make at least one person think differently, our work is making a difference. Besides, I thoroughly enjoy writing cheques, knowing they will go where there is real need.
Alice Garner
Reading the paper is depressing and distressing these days. But performing to audiences, especially school groups who drink in refugees' personal stories and who seem to come alive afterwards with the desire to do something positive like write letters, visit detainees, make a connection with refugees living in the community, makes the daily dose of news a little more bearable. Because I know we're doing something and people are responding wholeheartedly.
Making friends in the refugee community, and performing alongside them in Kan Yama Kan, has been an extraordinary, life-changing experience. So has writing to a teenage girl on Nauru and encouraging her to keep her hopes alive in the face of an endless, hellish limbo. She has sent me embroideries and sketches with her letters. I treasure them and my contact with her.
I urge all actors out there to use their skills in this way. Join AFR or start your own group. Be assured: telling stories really does make a difference.
Jeremy Lindsay Taylor
What did you want to be when you were 11? I wanted to be a tuna fisherman like our gold medal-winning weightlifter Dean Lukin. An 11-year-old girl, seeking her human right to a safe new life, wanted to die after being locked up in an Australian detention centre. She attempted suicide, hanging herself with a bed sheet. If there is anything I can do to help prevent such atrocities to others, I will do it.
Michael Gurr
Working with AFR this year was a great cure for despair. I had heard 'But what can I do?' so many times that defeatism had almost got me. But the cure was pretty simple, after all. Together we built a show called Something to Declare, which has been performed around Victoria. I compiled actual testimony from asylum seekers - some in prison and some living on the cruel Temporary Protection Visa. Alice Garner brought the music in and various casts have performed it since then. We're going to release the CD.
Never let anyone tell you there's nothing you can do. Let empathy and spare time become weapons against this crummy system. Indignation plus persistence equals change. Something to Declare needs four actors and a muso or two. It's available. You can find AFR on the web.
Diana Greentree
Well I can't NOT do it. Why? Because after 40 years in the business, I have at last found a way of using my performance skills in a way that has real meaning for me. As I witnessed men, women and children calling out from behind the razor wire at Woomera Detention Centre, thanking Australian people for caring about them, I decided then and there to become as active as possible.
As I witness school children, mouths agape, often in tears, listening to the truth about Australia's treatment of refugees, I am aware of the enormous responsibility we in AFR have to present a different side of the story from that presented by the Government, which is intent on dehumanising these largely innocent people. A question asked by more than one school child is: 'Why do human beings treat other human beings in this way?' So you see why I do it.
Bruce Myles
I remember a famous address by a footy coach at half time of a grand final: 'At least do something,' he bellowed at his players. 'Don't think. Don't hope. Do.' So it's as simple as that.
Corinne Grant
Like many people, I was appalled at the way the asylum seekers aboard the Tampa were treated. It seemed unbelievable to me that a country that had always prided itself on its 'fair go' attitude had so suddenly and so vehemently reneged on that. AFR is such a positive way to use the skills I have as a performer to help communicate an issue that I am passionate about. I have met some wonderful people through AFR and I have learnt so much more about the hardships facing asylum seekers in Australia. There are so many misconceptions and half-truths surrounding asylum seekers and refugees. Being involved means that I am able to help tell people the truth.
posted by Actors for Refugees at 6:04 PM
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