HowlRound Theatre Commons: In July 2019, I sat down with a few people at the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School to discuss the possibility of bringing a performance of The Courtroom: a re-enactment of one woman’s deportation proceedings—a production by the New York City–based theatre company Waterwell, where I’m artistic director—to their campus. Fast forward thirty minutes and Elora Mukherjee—the director of the clinic, an immigration lawyer and professor—had our attention focused in a different direction.
1 comment:
This is a really clever idea. I have to imagine it’s hard to get people to empathise with you when you’re just another lawyer in a suit, but having people’s real words is powerful. The article mentioned that there was no editing of the interviews, which makes it more powerful because it’s just a raw, unedited human with all their imperfections and mannerisms. Talking about someone in theory is a lot different then really hearing from them and I’m sure this can be used as a device to pull on the heartstrings of the judicial system. It’s crazy that immigrants aren’t required to be given a legal council, (presumably because they’re not citizens) but that seems quite unfair to someone who doesn’t understand the system and maybe even the language. People really do like hearing from other real people, that’s why theater is so effective. I’d love to see the exhibit once it opens.
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