Dr Dominic Hingorani from the University of East London explores the genesis and methodology behind the production of 'Guantanamo Boy', a stage adaptation of the critically acclaimed novel by Anna Perera and the ways in which it draws on and shares some of the artistic and pedagogical concerns of Half Moon when making work for teenage audiences.

1. ethics and the teenage audience
Guantanamo Boy
created and produced by Brolly

2. how should I act?
• The central ethical question posed in ‘theatre and ethics’ Nicholas Rideout
• Aristotle – ethics rests in the improvement character of the individual and
the fulfillment of its potential
• Post enlightenment move from self to ‘other’
Emmanuel Levinas:
‘responsibility for the Other, for the naked face of the first individual to come
along. A responsibility that goes beyond what I may or may not have
committed, as if I were devoted to the other man before being devoted to
myself. Or more exactly, as if I had to answer for the other man’s death
even before being’

3. Adapting Guantanamo Boy for the stage
1. Ethics & drama: How should the main protagonist act?
3. Ethics & audience: How should I act in that situation?
5. Ethics & theatre practice: How should the theatre maker act?
‘creating emotionally challenging theatre work for a teenage audience’
Claire Connor (Director) Stratford Circus Arts Centre invited Brolly to meet the
novelist Anna Perera to discuss creating a stage adaptation of Guantanamo
Boy.
• Stratford Circus: Stratford Circlets Programme (under 12)
• Keep the novelist in the process

4. ethics & drama
The main protagonist: Khalid, a northern teenage Muslim boy
‘Khalid likes football and computer games. He’s got a crush on a girl at school,
but can’t bring himself to do anything about it. He’s unexceptional in every
way – except he happens to be Muslim and in the aftermath of the 9/11
attacks, being a Muslim can be dangerous. When he goes on a family holiday
to visit his relatives in Pakistan he is snatched in the middle of the night and
thrown into a nightmare world of interrogations, beatings and torture.’
Ethics & politics: How does he act?
In spite of being wrongly detained without trial and tortured – he acts
ethically ‘in character’ – he chooses not to become dehumanised /radicalised

5. ethics & audience
‘How do we show young people the very worst that we are capable of as
human beings how doe help them to understand responsibly the world
they live in?
Claire Connor Director Stratford Circus
Levinas: A responsibility for the ‘other’ – a face to face encounter for the
audience.
Audience as witness: Immersive / in the round / sixty minutes / Khalid’s
perspective ( actor does not double)
‘innocent until proven guilty, not here you’re not’
• Problematise the ethical position for the audience re: human rights
• Place the ethical dilemma in context – politics
• Vs Utilitarian Position (Mill / Bentham) : Bush / US position
‘greatest good for the greatest number of people’
‘if by torturing one person you were able to elicit information that would save
many’

6. ethics and theatre practice
• Representation and the ‘other’
• Agency
‘we live in one of the most diverse cultures the world has ever seen, yet this
is not reflected in the culture we produce, or in who is producing it’
McMaster Review
‘Supporting Excellence in the arts - from measurement to judgement’ (2008)
‘the level of parental encouragement differs by family background and
personal demographics: parents of high social status are more likely to
encourage their children to engage in the arts; girls and white children are
more likely to receive encouragement than boys and children who are not
white.’
Arts Council Report
‘Encourage children today to build audiences for tomorrow’ (2009)

7. representation
An ethical responsibility: representation and authenticity
EFC: methodology / interdisciplinary/ to create new challenging and
relevant productions for young people sector / writers new to TYA
• Process: The work was developed over 18 months and there were two R & D
phases. An invited teenage audience see showing of the work in progress /
feedback Characters (teenagers/ cultural identity / staging / text. Diversity
reflected on stage and in the production team
• Adaptation:Brolly place design / AV / Sound at the centre of the theatre
making process alongside the text to realise the experience of the novel in a
theatrical setting.
• Brolly work with Chris Elwell as dramaturg
Develop the links between theatre / literature and human rights : Agency

8. agency
‘transforming a passive audience of consumers into an active audience; not
necessarily in terms of direct audience participation but in terms of
emotional and intellectual engagement’
Matthew Reason The Young Audience
‘Performing Human Rights’ symposium – Stratford Circus (2011)
• An ethical responsibility to the young audience for agency?
• Interdisciplinary Forum (EFC) : Literature / Theatre / Human Rights
• Debate issues raised in Guantanamo Boy
• Youth groups - Youth Amnesty / Muslim Women Writers / Schools Groups / Penguin
Spinebreakers /
• Brolly / Anna Perera (Novelist) / Human Rights Lawyers / Amnesty International / SC
/Theatre Programmers
• Work in progress – feedback

9. Performing Human Rights Symposium
http://www.brollyproductions.com/#!symposium

10. theatre practice & academia
• Theatre Studies – Institute Performing Arts Development (IPAD) University of East
London
• TYA module started in 2009 / 10 with 25 students – 2012 with 50 students
• Student Cohort – Creative Writing / Theatre Studies / Community Arts Practice
• Students engage with professional practice through teaching and learning (HMYPT)
and venue: Stratford Circus
• Thinking through practice – EFC ‘to encourage debate in the sector’
• Eg. Ethics of performance / Early years work / teenage work / digital approaches /
intercultural / addressing disability
• Need more critical thinking /sources on practice / mapping innovation
• Theatre For Young Audiences – contemporary approaches to practice and
performance (2014) Palgrave

11. Guantanamo Boy
The production was first performed at Stratford Circus in
February 2012
The production will tour nationally in Autumn 2013
www.brollyproductions.com