AfR In The News

Scenes from the Traralgon Tour

2006-07-17T15:25:00.000+10:00

Telling time for refugees

2004-11-02T20:30:00.000+11:00

Canberra Times
22 June 2004

A group of Australian actors staged a performance called Club Refuge at Parliament House yesterday.
The performers, including Corinne Grant (Rove Live, The Glass House), Maggie Millar (Bellbird, Neighbours), Kate Atkinson (SeaChange, Japanese Story) and Roger Oakley (Something in the Air, Home and Away) are members of Actors for Refugees - founded in 2001 by Alice Garner and Kate Atkinson - a non-party political group whose aim is to bring about a more compassionate approach to refugees.
They retold the stories of Amal, who survived the sinking of SIEV-X, and Aziz, a 15-year-old from Afghanistan in detention for more than two years, as part of the production.
Millar said the performances yesterday drew a number of politicians, from ALP president Carmen Lawrence to Liberal MP Petro Georgiou.
Club Refuge and production Something to Declare have been staged for various groups over the past 18 months.

Desperately seeking asylum

2004-11-02T19:55:00.000+11:00

Melbourne Weekly Magazine
10-16 August 2003

By Sandra Langdon

The Muslim hijab isn't a common sight in Armadale, as high property prices tend to put such suburbs out of reach for disadvantaged migrant families. However, Armadale became home for a young Iranian refugee couple last year when a kind local family gave them accommodation.
Unfortunately, their presence in Armadale made some people uncomfortable. Human rights lawyer Julian Burnside, QC, says the young wife, who was then eight months pregnant, was home alone one day when she opened the door to four large men with a search warrant. Four more men were at the back door. The young woman immediately showed the men her protection visa to prove she was lawfully in the community. They then spent 30 minutes searching the house, but found nothing.
Deeply distressed, she contacted her host and told him what had happened in his house that day. He was very worried and made enquiries to the Department of Immigration. It emerged the search warrant was issued by a Department officer, who was not required to go to a judge or magistrate as happens in criminal matters. When he asked why the warrant had been issued, the host was told the Department had received a report 'there are Middle Eastern people in a street in Armadale'.
'That was enough to trigger a search warrant raid on perfectly innocent people,' says Burnside. 'In Germany in the 1930s, such a raid might have followed a report there were Jews staying in a particular street. We seem to have learnt nothing at all about bigotry and prejudice.'
In a move to tackle such attitudes, a national Celebrate Cultural Diversity campaign was launched last week by the Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (FASSTT) and The Body Shop. With the slogan 'Recognise the Journey, Celebrate the Future', the campaign provides the chance to hear about the journeys of refugees and take action to welcome them in Australia.
FASSTT convener Paris Aristotle says about one in four refugees has been tortured before reaching Australia. 'How well a refugee settles into their new country is largely determined by the attitude of the people there,' says Aristotle. 'A welcoming and supportive approach from Australians will create a more prosperous and tolerant society.'
The way Australia responds to asylum seekers has been a divisive issue. The conviction we have got it wrong has galvanised thousands of people into action.
In Melbourne and around the nation, there have been rallies, public lectures and artistic outpourings, as well as letter-writing campaigns, detention visits, English tutoring and offers of accommodation. A network of lawyers has launched multiple actions to prevent the return of people to their country of origin. Recently, 35 non-government organisations, advocates and activists formed the National Anti-Deportation Alliance, which aims to prevent forcible deportations. And Seeking Djira - a new play by writer Linda Jaivin at fortyfivedownstairs in Flinders Lane until August 17, 2003 - is the latest of several Melbourne stage works critiquing our attitude to asylum seekers.
Actors for Refugees co-founder Kate Atkinson says this particular issue has pulled all kinds of people together; 'people who have never been propelled to act before, and they have involved themselves in lots of different ways,' she says. 'We are all in pursuit of a change in the system.'
Atkinson, who stars in new ABC series Fat Cow Motel, formed Actors for Refugees two years ago with fellow SeaChange actress Alice Garner.
'It was just two people sitting around saying, "I really can't sit on my hands on this and what are we going to do?"' she says. 'We never thought two years down the track we would be so embroiled in this whole kind of energy and a movement of sorts. We have been through one of the most enlightening and horrible periods of our lives - you see the very best of Australians, you see the very worst.'
The acting fraternity came to the party, with people such as Claudia Karvan, Tom Long, John Howard, Caroline Craig and Anne Phelan speaking out.
In Melbourne on World Refugee Day in June, Actors for Refugees launched Something to Declare. Compiled by local playwright Michael Gurr, it is a series of first-hand testimonies from people in detention, people on Temporary Protection Visas and Australians that have got to know these refugees. The script will be available to actors around the country to perform in their communities.
'We realise now with two years of experience under our belts that this is not going to change overnight,' says Atkinson. 'Any kind of success needs sustained effort and that was why we developed the idea of Something to Declare, because it is a format we thought would have longevity, that would be portable and we could get to lots of people in lots of different communities.'
After acting as counsel for Liberty Victoria for the Tampa asylum seekers in 2001, Julian Burnside spearheaded a campaign encouraging Australians to write to those in detention. More than 1000 people took up the challenge and Burnside collected hundreds of the resulting letters for a book recently published by Lonely Planet. From Nothing to Zero brings alive the journey of those seeking refuge.
'You can't help but realise, when you read the letters and understand what is going on, that as a nation we are engaged in a great moral crime,' Burnside says. 'And one way of combating it is to expose it to people. Perhaps if enough people understand what is being done, they might withdraw their support for the government doing it.
'It is a way of demonstrating for posterity we knew what was happening. Once people see what is happening and see past the way the government misrepresents what's happening, they can make a choice of either opposing it or collaborating.'
The 260-odd Iranians languishing in our detention centres could all be deported as a result of the Memorandum of Understanding with Iran that the Federal Government signed in April. In May, these people were given a 28-day deadline to either agree to be returned voluntarily or risk being deported by force.
The deadline has passed; the fear remains. Fearful, also, are the thousands of people who proved their grounds for asylum and have been living in the community on three-year Temporary Protection Visas. Many of these visas are now beginning to expire. Hundreds of these people fled a Taliban-controlled Afghanistan or the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, and now don't know whether the Australian government will allow them to stay.
Our inability to monitor the welfare and, ultimately, the fate of those that we deport to Iran and other countries greatly concerns critics of Australia's refugee policy. Amnesty International has consistently documented serious human rights violations in Iran including executions, torture and judicial corporal punishment. The human rights defender urges caution about forcibly returning those asylum seekers that may not fall within the narrow definition of a refugee.
'Our government is apparently not even interested in finding out what happens to people if they return,' Burnside says. 'In fact, Mr Ruddock said it would be offensive to Iran to include in the Memorandum of Understanding a provision to monitor the fate of people who are returned.'
The Australian Government takes this stance despite reports that while visiting Baxter Immigration Detention Facility, Iran's charge d'affairs warned Iranian detainees they had better sign up to return voluntarily as anyone forcibly deported will be imprisoned on arrival as a warning to other dissidents.
Among the Iranians currently detained in Australia are 17 Sabian Mandaean families. They belong to a pre-Christian faith that follows the teachings of John the Baptist and are persecuted by Muslims in Iran. The Refugee Review Tribunal has ruled that rather than suffering persecution, they have experienced isolated acts of 'discrimination'.
'It is like redefining what was happening to the Jews in Germany in the 1930s,' says Burnside. 'You can call it isolated acts of discrimination if you like, but any rational person would see it as persecution. They are restricted in the occupations they can follow. They are treated as "unclean". They are persecuted in every aspect of their lives.'
In late May, Federal Court judge Justice Richard Cooper delivered a stinging criticism of the Refugee Review Tribunal's failure to take into consideration claims of persecution by people of Sabian Mandaean faith. However, this judicial recognition is unlikely to assist those whose claims already have been rejected.
'It may have an impact on the way the tribunal processes subsequent Sabian Mandaean cases but it doesn't fix up the Sabian Mandaeans who have previously been rejected by the tribunal and haven't been helped by the courts. So you have that group who are presently waiting to be sent back to a life of persecution who apparently can do nothing to protect themselves against it,' Burnside says.
'The astonishing thing is there are only a few hundred people left in Australia's detention centres - a couple of hundred Iranians, a couple of hundred others. It would be the simplest thing possible as an act of humanity to give them protection visas,' he says.
'This won't encourage the people smugglers, because the people smugglers still have Nauru to fear.'
Burnside and his partner, Kate Durham, have welcomed refugees into their Hawthorn home and began Spare Rooms for Refugees, a hands-on network to help refugees who have been released into the community with little means of support.
Despite being free from detention, TPV holders are often in desperate situations, says Atkinson. 'I don't think people sense the imprisonment a TPV imposes on someone,' she says.
'There is always this potential return because these people are always going to have to re-justify their claim for refugee status and can't make a life for themselves in lots of ways.'
Under the terms of this three-year visa, people cannot bring their family here and cannot go to a third country to see their loved ones. A Hazara (persecuted ethnic minority) friend of Atkinson's fled Afghanistan leaving behind his wife, twin daughters and son. He was granted a TPV but realised too late his family would not be able to join him.
'His two little girls died and his wife and son are still living in these unthinkable circumstances in Afghanistan,' Atkinson says.
'He doesn't know if his son will even remember him. Do we really think these people love each other any less? That they feel less sorrow or less pain?'
It is the actor's role, says Atkinson, to try to help people imagine what it must be like to flee such places. 'I suppose what actors try to do is we try to tell the stories in a way that says, "Imagine if this happened to you - imagine if you had to walk in this person's shoes". Actors can take responsibility for being the human face, or the voice, of the people who aren't able to give their side of the story.
'It is a very different experience of suddenly realising someone you have known for a couple of years might be sent back to a country like Afghanistan, which we've been told by the governing bodies there that they are not fit to repatriate refugees. You take it very personally and you go home and have a cry at night.'
Atkinson and her friends presume any changes in the system are likely to be incremental.
'We didn't get involved in this so we could make a nice little play and then go home,' she says. 'Everything we do is channelled toward this whole community effort to change policy. Our government should show a little bit more imagination and a little bit more strength.'

Voice for people without one

2004-10-31T18:16:00.000+11:00

Star
18 May 2004

By Amy Darby Walker

Diana Greentree is giving voice to people without a voice - refugees.

The Williamstown artist is concerned at the Australian government's treatment of refugees. She said politicians have heard the concerns before but they need to hear them again.

Ms Greentree is joining other members of Actors for Refugees in a trip to Canberra for World Refugee Day next month. The group will participate in a rally for human rights on 20 June. The next day, they will perform their show Club Refuge in Parliament House.

Ms Greentree said Club Refuge was devised and written by actors, including herself, based on true stories of people in detention centres.

'I suppose we're trying to persuade politicians to take a more humane approach by telling the stories we've heard,' she said.

Ms Greentree said that although they have performed the show more than 300 times for schools and community groups, each performance is unique. 'We use different stories each time,' she said.

The show continues to evolve as the actors are always learning about different refugees by visiting detention centres and through letters they receive.

'We have stacks of stories,' she said.' People in detention beg us to tell stories to the community.'

Ms Greentree said that the process is emotionally exposing.

'They have been to hell and back, they are very in touch with their emotions,' she said.

The first time you hear someone's story, she said, it's impossible not to cry as you feel ashamed and angry at their treatment.

'Performing the pieces is cathartic,' Ms Greentree said. 'Doing the performance eases your pain because you feel like you are doing something practical to help them.'

One story they perform is that of Ali, a 15-year-old who fled the Taliban in Afghanistan, spending two years in an Australian detention centre. By performing his story in Club Refugee, Actors for Refugees raised awareness on his story and many students began to send him letters.

Now at 17, he is recognised as a refugee and his story is documented in 'Letters from Ali', a film by Clara Law and Eddie Fong appearing in the 2004 Melbourne Film Festival.

Ms Greentree said that she knows the show has a profound impact on viewers as it brings to light the lack of understanding by the government and the cruelty of people towards one another. Actors for Refugees has about 100 members but only five perform in a single show.

Locally, Actors for Refugees will perform Club Refuge at St Patrick's Cathedral in East Melbourne on 30 May at 4pm and a similarly themed show, Something to Declare, at the Melbourne Town Hall on 8 July around 8pm.

There is no fee to enter but any donations made are given to refugees.

Entertainers unite to tell the tales of refugees

2004-10-31T18:13:00.001+11:00

Star
3 February 2004

The Tampa affair shocked many people into action. Melissa Hadley reports.

A small group of distinguished actors will descend on Newport to perform in aid of refugees this month.

Actors for Refugees will perform Club Refuge at Newport Community Hall on Sunday, 22 February, to raise money for OXFAM Community Aid Abroad.

The performance is an amalgamation of various stories heard by the actors while they visited refugees in Australian detention centres.

Former Neighbours actor Diana Greentree is part of the Newport show and said most of the actors became involved after learning of the plight of some refugees.

'Expect a star-studded cast, some humour and satire, but poignant true stories of refugees,' Ms Greentree said.

'It came about after meeting people in detention centres and hearing (about their experiences) first-hand,' she said.

More than 100 actors from across Australia make up Actors for Refugees, which Ms Greentree said was triggered by news of the children overboard scandal.

'We've all got a different story, but most of us were moved by the Tampa crisis,' she said.

Anne Phelan, who has appeared in Something in the Air and Marshall's Law, said those rewriting stories from the refugees were careful not to distort the messages.

'It's a theatrical representation but we've been very, very careful that we didn't stray from the real story,' she said.

Ms Phelan said many people who saw Club Refuge changed their thinking on the situation of refugees in Australia.

She said the experience helped audiences realise the seriousness of the stories being told and brought a sense of reality to the situation.

'It's the ones who come out of curiosity that usually find the experience the most moving because they are so shocked at how little our leaders have let come out,' Ms Phelan said.

'It's also human contact for them. They realise it could be their uncle or their aunt.'

Ms Greentree said the truth of the situation could become too much for some audience members, but the performance nearly always had a positive effect on them.

'We get people in tears after they've seen a show asking how they can help,' she said.

'Other people who come say they are re-energised and re-inspired to help.'

Club Refuge plays at the Newport Community Hall in Mason Street from 2.30pm on 22 February.

It stars Anne Phelan, Diana Greentree, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor from Secret Life of Us, Bruce Myles from Melbourne Theatre Company and musician Rebecca Spalding.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for concession and child, with all proceeds going to refugees and Oxfam Community Aid Abroad.

For booking and inquiries, contact Marise on 9398 0548.

Actors air the voices of refugees on stage

2004-10-31T18:10:00.000+11:00

Canberra Times
22 June 2004

By Alanna Maclean

Club Refuge reminds me of the chaplain in George Bernard Shaw's St Joan who is utterly keen on the idea of burning a human being to death until he sees what burning a human being to death is actually like.

Actors for Refugees have brought their skills to bear on the problematic ethics of Australia's current refugee policy. Club Refuge employs the basic theatrical device of using the words of the refugees and their supporters to bear witness to what happens to human beings caught in this particular fire and the results are eloquent.

Five actors (Maggie Millar, Kate Atkinson, Corinne Grant, Adam McConvell and Roger Oakley) and two musicians (Kylie Whyte on bass fiddle and singer Rebecca Spalding) sit on a row of chairs only rising when they have something to say or sing.

And what sayings and singings. For an hour we hear the voices of people fleeing one kind of oppression only to run into the Australian kind in the detention camps, on Christmas Island, on the sinking SIEV X and in the rules surrounding the granting or withholding of refugee status and visas.

Among the stark stories of despair there are also moments of humour. Grant makes the most of these, as an Australian teenager dragged reluctantly by an activist mum to visit a camp and as an Australian grandma pulled into action by her granddaughter's involvement with a bloke who has a temporary protection visa.

All the performances have their telling moments and it's a 'telling' that this group has come to Canberra at its own expense to do.

Theatre like this rightly exists to make the world's chaplains think before they are so ready to throw fellow humans into any fire.

Actors make a platform for refugees

2004-10-31T18:08:00.000+11:00

Hobart Mercury
15 September 2004

By Linda Smith

The plight of refugees and asylum seekers has always been something seasoned actor Anne Phelan felt passionate about.

So when a group of fellow actors approached her to become involved in a performance highlighting the real-life struggles these people face, she jumped at the chance.

Better known for her television roles in Something in the Air, Prisoner and Neighbours, Phelan has taken time out from her busy schedule to come to Hobart and raise refugee awareness through a performance of scripted spoken word and music.

The project Something to Declare began more than two years ago and was such a success that it has been touring ever since.

Actors contribute to the show unpaid, and all donations go to supporting refugees.

Phelan enjoys using her talents to benefit others.

'I think the biggest problem for any issue is people asking, 'What can I do?', she said. 'We felt refugees and asylum seekers' voices had been taken away from them so, as actors, we tell their stories.

'We're not doing anything outside our normal job but we are helping.'

She said she would stay involved in the project 'until every detention centre has closed.'

She speaks passionately about the stories of children who have spent their entire lives in detention, of qualified doctors and scientists who are now wasted working in abattoirs, and orchard workers so reverent of the fruit they pick because trees in their own country had either been blown up or never existed because of famine.

The documentary-style performance consists of real-life stories, facts, figures and government comment.

Phelan describes the show as 'a potentially life-changing experience' that is not for the faint-hearted.

Phelan will perform at Hobart's Theatre Royal tonight along with local actors John X, John Unicomb and Sara Cooper at 7pm. Entry is free.

Hear the real story

2004-10-31T18:07:00.000+11:00

Midland Express
28 September 2004

Hear the truth about what is happening to refugees at a public forum, Want the real story about refugees' at the Woodend Community Centre this Thursday evening, September 30.

Many people in rural and regional Australia have become friends with refugees who live and work in their community.

They want a return to a different Australia, one that would make refugees feel welcome, safe and able to contribute to the community, no matter how they arrived in this country.

But according to an Iraqi member of organising group Refugee Voices, the reality for people on Temporary Protection Visas is very different.

As she puts it: 'It's the constant waiting, the expectation of being rejected. When I was called back in to Immigration to prove again that I am a refugee, it brought back terrible memories and emotions. I want to tell myself that they are not part of my life, but I can't. I'm still temporary.'

Those attending the evening will hear first-hand from refugees about their experiences and from local refugee supporter Anne Phelan from Actors for Refugees. With three other local actors, Anne will perform Club Refuge: the true stories of Australia's refugees and asylum seekers, a piece they have taken all around Victoria as well as interstate.

'I used to be proud to be Australian. For the last few years, I haven't been proud to be an Australian, and I want to be proud to be an Australian again,' Anne said.

Acclaimed writer and storyteller Arnold Zable will be MC for the evening, which will also feature a screening of the award-winning animation, It's Like That, presenting the voices of children in Australian detention centres. The evening has been organised by Refugee Voices with The Justice Project, a group established by Julian Burnside QC and Malcolm Fraser to campaign for refugee policy reform.

Want the real story about refugees? Thursday, September 30, 7.30pm to 9pm, Woodend Community Centre, corner Forest and High streets, Woodend. Further information: Refugee Voices (Marg) on (03) 9481 1256 or 0417 117 087.

Making a difference

2004-10-31T18:04:00.000+11:00

'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.

Acting out about justice

2004-10-31T18:02:00.000+11:00

The Melbourne Times
26 May 2004

By Alison Dean

Musicians, artists and actors have been at the fore since the asylum seeker crisis hit Australia in the late '90s - raising both funds and awareness of the real stories. But in the past few months, the campaign has hit top gear.

Playwright and broadcaster Michael Gurr puts the surge down to the change in attitude in the community.

'The Federal Government's great success was in keeping these people (asylum seekers) faceless,' Gurr says. 'But that doesn't work forever. Increasingly, people have been visiting people in immigration detention or meeting them in the community. Once people see asylum seekers have faces and heartbeats, it has spurred them on and deepened their sense of indignation.'

Last week, the last 12 asylum seekers from the Tampa were granted refugee status and sources within the Immigration Department were talking about allowing some Temporary Protection Visa holders to apply for permanent status.

Gurr's major contribution to the campaign began a couple of years ago at an Actors for Refugee's meeting, when he agreed to devise a performance.

'It was the most punishing load of research material I have ever seen in my life,' he says.

From this, Gurr created a testimony of fact, rather than a piece of drama.

A year and more than 50 performances later, the testimony - Something to Declare - is still touring Australia. It hits the Terminus Hotel in Abbotsford on Friday at 7pm.

Starring Corrine Grant, Alison Whyte, Neil Pigot and Gurr, the show follows the story of one woman who escaped from Iraq, travelled through the Middle East, through Indonesia and onto a people smuggling boat, which sank. Finally she arrived in Melbourne and is still living on a temporary visa.

'It is just an incredible odyssey,' Gurr says.

Details: www.actorsforrefugees.org or call 0402 627 583.

Tales from across the sea

2004-10-31T18:01:00.000+11:00

Preston Leader
24 June 2003

Reservoir refugee and actor Majid Shoukor is telling the stories of refugees and asylum seekers.

Shoukor has helped put together a new play called Something to Declare that has just been performed for the first time at the CUB Malthouse Theatre at Southbank.

Actors for Refugees spokeswoman Emma Beech said the play was about the experiences of a woman named Amal who survived the sinking of the boat dubbed the Siev-X.

An overloaded boat sank off Indonesia 20 months ago, killing 353 Afghanis and Iraqis.

Ms Beech said the play was now at a point where it could be picked up by mainstream producers.

Actors rally for refugees

2004-10-31T17:58:00.000+11:00

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.

Actors help refugees

2004-10-31T17:54:00.000+11:00

Lilydale Yarra Valley Leader
4 November 2002

Yarra Glen will play host to a who's who of Australian drama when a cast of well-known performers lend their talents to a Cup Day fundraiser.

The group, all members of Actors for Refugees, will entertain the crowds in a marquee at the Yarra Glen Café and Store at 12pm on Tuesday, November 5.

Anne Phelan, Rachael Maza, Lisa Maza, Alice Garner, Kate Atkinson, Margot Knight, Don Bridges, Jessica Clarke, Rebecca Spalding and Diana Greentree will each read a story, a poem or perform music in the production named Club Refuge.

The café will serve lunch and The Little Yarra Steiner School's ensemble will perform to guests in the afternoon.

Money raised from the day will go towards buying clothes for refugee children at Maribyrnong.

'A couple of children have just been allowed to go to school ' they have no clothes except what they had with them,' organiser Diana Greentree said.

'We'll use the money to buy them some clothes.'

The performance group, which has toured around Victoria, chose Yarra Glen because of Ms Greentree's friendship with owner Ian Balmain.

'He's very committed to the refugee cause,' she said.

Tickets to Club Refuge are $20 and available between 3pm and 5pm from the Yarra Glen Café and Store on 9730 1122

Ann Phelan and Actors For Refugees

2004-10-31T17:52:00.000+11:00

Wednesday, 23 July 2003

ABC
Presenter: Steve Martin

Ann Phelan gives her points of view on why Australian actors are banding together to publicly advocate better treatment of people arriving in Australia as refugees.

One of Australia's acting legends explains why she and many other actors are unhappy with the Government's policies towards refugees.

The issues of refugees and asylum seekers have been on the metaphorical front page in Australia since Tampa and the last federal election.

And it seems many people remain in favour of the Howard Government's hardline stance - including the mandatory detention of asylum seekers and the so-called Pacific Solution' of offshore detention.

However, the Government also has some very vocal opponents - people trying to change the minds of those in power and spread their message to the Australian public.

'Actors for Refugees' is one group trying to change the way people perceive refugees. This week, well-known actor Anne Phelan spoke with Steve Martin before the group's tour of south-west Victoria.

'If I treated my dog the way we are treating some of these people in detention centres, I would be put in jail,' she said.

Anne Phelan, whose recent television credits include Welcher and Welcher, Marshall Law and Something in the Air, said the group aims to present the human stories behind the debates.

'Actors have a history of speaking out against injustice and abuse of human rights, and we feel that the voices of these people have been taken away from them,' she said. 'And who better than to give it back to them than actors?'

The group's current tour around south-west Victoria includes various dramatic pieces, including 'Club Refuge' - a collection of facts and figures, letters, poetry and stories.

Australia Day in Benalla

2004-10-31T17:45:00.001+11:00

January 27, 2004

by Di Greentree

Another inspiring tour! Club Refuge was invited to perform at an Australia Day event in Benalla and invited, too, to an Afghan dinner the previous night.

What a treat! The food was sumptuous (always a bonus for actors), and many moving stories were told by Afghan people living on TPV's. Afghan musicians played and a lovely little girl danced for us in her national costume.

We had been asked to try to tailor the show so that a more positive approach was taken on this occasion ... some of the success stories ... so this we did and included some new pieces and our new song, 'Zenzenina ... What Have We done'. Our Iranian friend (who has occasionally summed up the courage to perform with us in past Club Refuge shows) came too, but doubted that he'd be able to speak as he'd been in contact with the family he has not seen for 3 years, and was deeply depressed. The music, the fun, the stories, the cast of friends, the open hearted welcome that the town gave us all helped to lift his gloom and after rehearsing with us he was confident enough to tell the story of his flight here (and to move us all to tears).

It was quite cathartic for him and afterwards he was a different person. The power of performance had helped him turn a corner and he commented 'I felt something has lifted from my shoulders'.

If we achieved nothing else (and we actually achieved much more, I feel), this was something that made it all very worthwhile.

The new song went down very well and we want to include it always.

The local R.A.R. presented us with a cheque for over $300 in donations.

Best wishes,

Di

Bruce Myles and Michael Gurr on 'Something To Declare'

2004-10-31T17:45:00.000+11:00

Bruce Myles and Michael Gurr
are director and writer of the original
'Something To Declare'
production at Playbox

what could I do?
the government was humiliating us
the opposition embarrassing us
the media by turn shallow timid cynical
I couldn't believe it nobody seemed too bothered
and there they were - atkinson garner greentree phelan rubinstein and the others
doing something

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 that's it; simple as that.

Bruce Myles

Working with Actors For Refugees 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 for despair was pretty simple after all. Together, we built a show called Something To Declare.

I compiled actual testimony from asylum seekers - some in prison and some living on Ruddock's cruel Temporary Protection Visa. Alice Garner brought the music in and various casts have performed it since then.

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.

Michael Gurr

A Club Refuge Country Tour

2004-10-31T17:43:00.000+11:00

September 10, 2003

by Di Greentree

The past two weekends have been an inspiration for the Club Refuge cast, and I'll summarize.

Tour 1 to beautiful Bright/Beechworth/Myrtleford, where once again we were overwhelmed by the great hospitality of the local people, who provided us with delightful accomodation and even more delightful food....not to speak of the terrific company. It seems supporters of refugees are the creme de la creme! thanks particularly to Monica, Sally, Meredith and Pat for the GENEROUS T.L.C.Our only regret was that we didn't have a spare day to frolic in the snow.

Following both adult performances (both to excellent houses) question time was lengthy and in depth and revealed to us the compassion and commitment that exists in rural communities.

We never fail to be surprised by the schools shows. All of us having played to highschools before in theatrical tours, our expectation is that there'll be a fair amount of restlessness, so when we are greeted with rapt attention, we really feel the material is hitting home. It was particularly poignant that we had with us a former detainee (now on a T.P.V.) who read the Iranian detainees letter...a plea to John Howard and the Australian people not to deport them.

The questions which followed, demonstrated that the students were moved to the point of wanting to become active...surely our aim, and there were many requests for information about writing to detainees...and particularly to those whose stories we told. One Beechworth student, Hannah Routledge wrote an excellent letter which was published in the "Age" the following day.

On the following weekend we travelled to Bairnsdale and were lent a lovely old home by Alice Garner's mother in law, and met there by the wonderful Meryn Callander (who had organised the whole thing)and daughter, Juniper and again....casseroles, cakes and coffee.

A highlight of the afternoon performance was that Trish Kerbi's husband and children were there to hear us read their "adopted son" Aziz's letters form Port Hedland Detention centre. They were later able to answer the audience's questions about Aziz and his ongoing court battles.

Again the schoolkids blew us away with their focus and attention. A teacher at one of the schools had warned us he'd had a complaint previously about these kids lack of attention during visiting performances. For us they were angels.

Again the questions following the shows demonstrated to us how much the kids had absorbed and how commited they now appeared to be to helping the refugees.

Some highlights: the young boy (whom I was later told came from a rather dysfunctional family and who turned up for school erratically) who, during the discussion about a young boy in detention called out "He can come and live with me", and then later, when he heard the detainee liked the "Back street boys" music said "I'll send him a "Backstreet Boys" T-shirt". Several tearie girls who requested addresses of detainees to write to. Groups who wanted to combine and visit people in detention (5 hours away)Students who wanted to send gifts. anger, dismay and a desire to change the system were very evident.

At a rather exclusive grammar school, our contact teacher warned us that the students were very well-off conservatives and may b racist and unreceptive. They were wonderful! Hung on every word and several told us that their opinions had been changed by the performance. At all venues, the questions continued far longer than we'd hoped and again showed us the power of performing this material. We are proud, elated and inspired....and....we had a bloody good time! Thankyou so much to all the organisers and performers for making this such a success!

(By the way, we raised well over $2000 to give to deserving refugees.)

Getting to the Heart of It

2004-10-31T17:34:00.000+11:00

Muse

by Eulea Kiraly

Community theatre, which is of, by and for the people, is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. Eulea Kiraly explains why.

Community theatre has a special kind of magic, it's more open, more raw. It has a heart. - Melissa from Burning Shadows.

Alice Garner is one of Australia's busiest and most talented actors. Although she is more widely known for her roles in Seachange and The Secret Life of Us, Garner has numerous film credits and awards, was a cellist with the Xylouris ensemble, recently completed a PhD in French history, has a new baby and, yes, a famous author for a mother. She was in Canberra a few months ago as part of a forum organised by Manning Clark House, entitled Turning Points in Creative Lives. Six practitioners, including myself, were asked to identify those moments of grace when it all made sense when something shifts and you realise you're in the right place doing the right thing. I was surprised when Garner spoke passionately about her recent work on Kan Yama Kan, a community theatre project. I shouldn't have been over the last 12 months I've worked with seven vastly different groups who recognised the stage as a vital place to tell their stories.

Community theatre is not new, but it is experiencing a resurgence after the last 20 years of focus on art as product rather than as a part of life. Locally, it has sometimes been confused with amateur theatre, but can be seen in the work of Noonee Doronila of the Tugpindulayaw Filipino Community Theatre and Bob Janowski's Noisy Friarbirds. What excites Garner and a growing wave of professional artists is the opportunity to help create original theatre that is of, by and for the people. It is demanding but rewarding stuff.

Garner's work was with the Fitzroy Learning Network (FLN), a drop-in centre which offers free English lessons to refugees on temporary protection visas. The teachers sometimes use drama and storytelling as an English language exercise for their students. The Tampa incident in September last year gave them a reason to go public.

At about this time Garner and Seachange co-star Kate Atkinson formed a group called Actors for Refugees (AfR). When FLN Coordinator Anne Horrigan-Dixon met them at a protest rally and asked them to take on cameo roles to profile the centre's community play, they were happy to help. After the initial season, AfR began fund-raising for another production. By then a new group of refugees - largely from Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan - came into the centre and a team of teachers and writers began to draw out their stories. They also worked out which part of the stories they were prepared to tell and how to do so safely and effectively. In that process some people dropped out, others were happy to appear on stage and one Iraqi woman decided that the safest way for her to tell the story was to read it into a microphone from behind a screen.

'The early skits didn't work. It was more powerful if they spoke directly to the audience - this is what happened to me,' says Garner. 'I think that was part of what worked so well about it. There was as real connection between the audience and the performers - it was very intense.'

This was also the process behind script development work I did with Jenny Savigny of Mental Illness Education ACT, who wanted to create a script for lower secondary schools about eating disorders. Any Body's Cool was drawn from the experiences of those who had lived through anorexia and bulimia. For some women the prospect of talking about their illness in public was too confronting, but for those brave few who stayed through to the first reading, the response from the audience was exhilarating.

The cast of Burning Shadows was also moved by audience members who came up after each show to thank them for telling their stories. This play - by and about young people living with the impact of family illness and disability - was the result of a special program run by Marymead. Most of the cast had done drama at school, so their reasons for being involved with the production were dual and clearly explained by one of the young performers: 'Half because I love acting and half because these are stories people need to hear.' Writer/director Robin Davidson used the workshop process to pull together the play, which was a mixture of real stories, invented stories and creative mixtures of both. In most cases, the actors didn't present their own story on stage, but spoke of the importance of respecting and honouring the story they did tell.

Not all community theatre is created in the same way. Last year Sri Lankan playwright Siri Ipalawatte came to me with a completed script about the inter-generational tensions of migrant families. It was workshopped briefly and presented to capacity audiences as a staged reading by non-actors - businessmen, public servants and university students. Most rehearsals, production meetings and performances were social occasions that involved food and families. I was reminded of a conversation with David Milroy of Yirra Yakin Indigenous Theatre in Perth 'Our plays are short, but what happens before and after the play is long' - indicating his deep understanding of the community cultural development that takes place around the art making.

My three-year involvement with Jay Bannister and her play Junk involved a written script, extensive workshopping in drug rehabilitation centres and a full production with an entire cast and crew of non-actors, supported by a professional choreographer, set, lighting and sound designers. The production process, with the inevitable tension of working towards an immovable public outcome, was a huge character building and team building exercise. One of the participants, who described himself as being 'self-obsessed' at the beginning of the process, went through huge waves of self doubt over the ten-week rehearsal period but was glowing by opening night. 'I achieved something I never imagined I ever could or would do. I'm proud of myself and my peers,' he said. When asked what he learned from the project, Will's answer was concise: 'Anything is possible.'

Much of my work was inspired by Maud Clarke, one of Australia's most respected community theatre makers, who's been working with women in Victorian prisons since the late-1970s. Clarke and her team from Somebody's Daughter Theatre were at Tuggeranong Arts Centre last year for a five-week professional development project. For them, public performance has been an important part of their work for some time. An early production was part of one Robyn Archer's National Festivals of Australian Theatre and they've just completed a tour of regional Victoria with their two most recent shows.

Alice Garner talked about the importance of the transition between rehearsals, when not everyone was serious about 'this little community thing', to performance. 'Dress rehearsal was the first time we ever ran it from beginning to end,' she explains. 'I'd heard it all in dribs and drabs, but to hear everybody's stories in that dark room, all lit up, the beautiful colours - the whole thing of moving onto a different level, becoming something else altogether. It was beautiful.'

For her, it's the live quality that makes theatre such a potent media for telling community stories. 'There's something about being in the room with the people,' she says. 'And with this kind of theatre, there's always an element of 'will we get through this?' because there are so many factors affecting people's performances - who's in the audience that night? How will they react? All of this can feed into the show and make it different every time.

Eulea Kiraly is Muse's Contributing Editor (theatre).

The John Howard of 'Actors For Refugees'

2004-10-31T17:29:00.000+11:00

Woman's Day

by Jill Fraser

It's rare to find actor John Howard at A-list parties mixing with the rich and famous.

It's much more likely that this down-to-earth thespian's instantly recognizable face (thanks to his acclaimed role as John Taylor in Channel Seven's Always Greener and before that as Bob Jelly in the ABC series, SeaChange) will be seen addressing a demonstration for human rights.

John is one of a growing number of performers who are donating their time and talents to Actors for Refugees, a group which has mobilised the collective might of actors to encourage a more humanitarian attitude to asylum seekers.

Deeply disturbed by the Federal Government's handling of the refugee crisis, John makes no bones about his feelings towards his namesake's policies and the "gaols" that are used to house asylum seekers.

"I try to imagine my children in them," he says, shuddering.

John and the Prime Minister may share the same name but ideologically they are poles apart. Asked what he would like to say to the PM, he pauses.

Choosing his words carefully he says. "I think it's important to build a nation that is courageous, not afraid.

"We have no reason to be afraid of refugees arriving by boat, we never have had. After all, my forebears arrived by boat, so did yours."

Alongside John on the set of SeaChange, co-founders of Actors for Refugees (AfR) Kate Atkinson and Alice Garner worked together for two and a half years before realising that they share the same passion to right the world's wrongs.

"The refugee issue has made Alice and me very close. It's been an enormous journey for both of us," says Kate, admitting that prior to this she has resisted using her celebrity status to push a cause.

"This is the first time in my life that I've been so involved in something. I got really distressed about the Tampa incident and thought, if ever there was a time to speak out and have a say in how my world is going to be shaped this is it."

These days Kate (best known for her SeaChamge character, Pearl Bay's conscientious policewoman, Karen Miller) and Alice (the town's hippie Carmen Monahan) spend every spare moment discussing the group's increasingly busy schedule, collating information and visiting friends in detention centres.

"Historically actors have regularly spoken out against the abuse of human rights," says Kate. "Actors for Refugees is our attempt to humanize the issue of the asylum seekers by utilizing our story-telling skills to relate their personal tales."

"We're counteracting the edict that came out of Canberra, don't give these people a human face," declares Annie Phelan, Marshall Law's Esther Hersch QC and one of the group's most active supporters. "The government understands the power of keeping them as statistics."

"I'm involved with Actors for Refugees because we act as a bridge to give the asylum seekers a voice," says Blue Heeler's star, Caroline Craig, explaining that her introduction to the group came in the form of an invitation to talk at a Palm Sunday refugee rally.

The 20,000-plus crowd was somewhat daunting for the young actress but not nearly as confronting as the verbal abuse that Melbourne talk-back callers dished up to her regarding her involvement in the event.

"I was shocked," she exclaims. "The majority view was that those who are seeking refuge are queue-jumpers and terrorists. The problem is we're not being informed. People are not heartless they just need to know the facts."

Through a variety of voluntary community projects, including one which takes the actors and their stories into high schools, AfR is hoping to help close this information gap.

With a Ph.D. in history, Alice Garner is well qualified to sift through the mountain of often conflicting data that finds its way onto websites and into the media. Together with Kate Atkinson she is ensuring that the group is much more than simply "heads stuck on an issue".

"We're very linked to what's going on at a grass roots level. We're not just a bunch of actors making empty statements," says Alice.

"We've done our homework and found that a lot of what is being told is not true," adds Kate. "It's been manipulated and exploited for political purposes. We've done the research and with our acting, the only skill at our disposal, we're trying to reach people and raise awareness."

"I think people are getting suspicious of high profile people jumping on band wagons," says Rove McManus' comedic side-kick, Corinne Grant. "That's what I like about AfR. We're trained to talk and it's good to be able to use our skills as opposed to just our profiles for such an important cause."

Support for Actors for Refugees within the acting fraternity has been strong. Since its inception in September 2001 the group has received help from an impressive list of performers. Besides John Howard, Annie Phelan, Caroline Craig and Corinne Grant, Tom Long, Claudia Karvan, John Wood, Joel Edgerton, Kevin Harrington, Rachael Maza, Sacha Horler, William McInnes, Catherine McClements, Damien Washe-Howling and Georgina Naidu are just a handful of the celebrities who have given their time. With the refugee issue dividing the nation, could participation in AfR have an adverse affect on their future careers? Surprised at the question Kate replies, "If it does have a negative impact then so be it. In a way that would only serve to prove my point, that the Australia I thought I was living in is just a fantasy. I should be able to talk out as loudly and desperately as I want."

Anne Phelan gives a soft chuckle. "Twenty years ago my mother asked me the same question concerning my involvement with the unions. My answer now is the same as it was back then. If someone doesn't want to employ me because of my beliefs I don't want to work for them."

"It's more important to stand up for what you believe than go where the money is," muses Caroline.

"I hope it won't affect my career but if it does it won't stop me," adds Alice. "I want my behaviour to make my children proud when they're old enough to understand what happened and when enough time has passed for this issue to be analyzed in a clear, dispassionate way.

"I don't have much celebrity status but whatever I've got I'll use because all these people in detention centres want is to lead normal lives, work, contribute to the community, send their kids to school and have friends home for dinner. And ultimately all everyone wants is peace."

Timing right for action

2004-10-31T17:23:00.000+11:00

June 19, 2003

'The Age'
by Carolyn Webb

When you're in three television shows and a radio program, spare time is hard to find. But comedian Corinne Grant has squeezed in an appearance in a stage play because it's for a cause she's passionate about. In Something to Declare, Grant and other high-profile actors read true stories of refugees in Australia.

This latest project from Actors for Refugees also stars Anne Phelan (Mavis Goes to Timor), Jeremy Lindsay Taylor (Something in the Air), and Iraqi actor Majid Shokor (Kan Yama Kan). Claudia Karvan (The Secret Life of Us) will launch it, Playbox artistic director Aubrey Mellor will direct, and playwright Michael Gurr (Crazy Brave) wrote the script.

Grant, who appears in Channel Ten's Rove Live and SkitHouse, ABC-TV's Glasshouse and FOX FM's Saturday Morning Rove, says raising awareness about the plight of refugees is worth giving up what was to have been her first weekend off in a month. "Some things are more important than, you know, just sitting at home and doing nothing, when I could go out and try and explain the situation to people and just illustrate what's actually going on for these asylum seekers," she says.

"As much as the Government has tried to dehumanise them, they are ordinary, everyday people, who just want to feel safe."

Actors for Refugees was founded in 2001 by actors Alice Garner and Kate Atkinson. In mid-2002, Grant acted as MC for an Asylum Seekers Resource Centre trivia night. "After that, I started going to the (Actors for Refugees) meetings, and found out about it, and got involved that way," Grant says.

Something to Declare will mark a return to "straight" (non-comic) acting for Grant. She majored in drama at La Trobe University, and wrote and performed in Awkward at La Mama in 1996 before beginning a comedy career.

"Having those skills, you sort of never forget them, so it's easy to fall back into," she says.

Grant describes Something to Declare as "an animated read", with actors holding scripts reading out excerpts from real-life situations.

Grant is based in Melbourne, but flies to Sydney once a fortnight to tape Glasshouse at ABC's Ultimo studios, and often does Rove Live TV segments from Townsville or country Victoria.

When asked how she juggles the work, Grant laughs. "Not all that well, at times. It's just a matter of keeping abreast of everything, I think, and just making sure that I'm organised. A lot of stuff doesn't take a lot of preparation; a lot of it's ad lib. So, as long as I know exactly what's expected of me, it's easy to just fit into that mould and do the work."

She never imagined how busy her career would get. "I think it would be every performer's dream to have this much work. But you can't say no to anything when it turns up either, because it's such a wonderful opportunity to do such varied things. And you never know when it's going to all dry up.

"In television, it can all go in the blink of an eye."

Included on Saturday is a performance by Garner on cello and Kurdish musician Dursan Acar on the Turkish baglama. Singer Rebecca Spalding will also perform. It is hoped that Something to Declare will go on to tour schools and community centres.

A small number of tickets to Something to Declare will be available at the door this Saturday. The performance at the Malthouse's Beckett Theatre starts at 2.30pm. Entry is free and seating is unreserved, so patrons need to arrive early. Donations will go to the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre.