A primary school in the UK today reports a pupil believed to be harbouring anti-British sentiments to the police. 1842, the remnants of the East India Company army retreat from Kabul to British India. A woman searches for her lover on the Highway of Death, Iraq, 1991. An arms deal negotiated in a war zone hotel changes a young businessman’s life forever.
“A bouquet of flesh flowers melted into each other
Hand to hand
Face to shoulder
Chemical unification of skins”
wipe these tears is a theatrical montage journeying across borders and centuries to explore imperial methods of crushing dissent and to celebrate solidarity. Told by an ensemble of female performers it is the result of interviews with over 90 individuals including survivors of war & torture from Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria, Palestine & Guantanámo Bay; ex-service people deployed in Afghanistan, Gaza, Iraq, Libya, Somalia & the 1st Gulf War; clinical psychologists specialising in torture & war crimes; surgeons & paramedics working in war-zones & the UK’s leading anti-war, anti-Islamophobia, state crime & colonial studies academics & activists.
It’s female & BME-led, the cast of which will comprise entirely of working class & BME women representing their communities, languages & cultures on stage.
Commissioned by Camden People’s Theatre, Supported by Arts Council England, International State Crime Initiative, Shadow World Investigations & British Council.
Tobi King Bakare and this theatre deserve a shout-out for such a young, diverse audience. There is so much talk about audiences being full of over 60s and why, why can’t theatres get the crowds in to reflect society in general? Well, I’m happy to say that on a rainy Thursday evening, the theatre was completely full.
Caiti Grove on Before I Go in CPT's Spring 2023 season London Theatre Reviews
