The Claim’s UK Tour Comes To Manchester!
| 8th January 2018
A new play described as being “comically absurd” will be stopping by in Manchester this week as part of a UK tour. ‘The Claim’ aims to bring light to the current asylum system in the UK and the difficulty people face in the process of acclaiming it.
One of our writers here at VIVA got to chat with Mark Maughan, the director of “The Claim” to find out all about the journey!
Q: Where are you from and how did you first get into producing?
A: I’m from Newcastle Upon Tyne and I went to university where I studied languages. I studied French and Spanish with a little bit of theatre on the side, directing a few shows within the university. It was something I loved to do.
Q: What inspired you on this journey of directing The Claim?
A: I was at the Edinburgh Fringe festival back in 2013. I happened to meet Tim Cowbury from the Made in China Theatre Company. That’s where we started to engage our own thoughts to build a play of our own. A play that would stem from our own interests and opinions. That’s where the idea came from to start forming a play on the asylum system here in the UK. Much research and development went into the project. Including the citizenship test, language and power and trying to understand the process of how the asylum system works.
Q: How long did it take and how did you go about working with Tim Cowbury?
A: The project took 4 years altogether and 3 years from that was building the play from the research we had gathered. We had help from the refugee council, meeting people in the system and understanding the information. We then completed the first draft of the piece. More detailed research and development went into it as we had to question who this is play is for and what the message behind it is. What people take away from the play and make them question the way they think about the current system.
Q: How was the play funded?
A: Different people and organisations such as, the arts council funding and Gramnet. Also we had support from the likes of Stockton, Shoreditch town hall and even Lush Cosmetics charity pot. The funding into the play has been phenomenal. We have had great support from people who support our ideas the message we are trying to get across.
Q: Migration was one of the topics discussed significantly in the Brexit debate last year. Did Brexit have any influence on how the play was produced?
A: The idea for the play came about before politics started to shift and it happened before the refugee crisis. A big shift was that Theresa May became prime minister and another change of course is Brexit. However, the debate was even more necessary with regards to how people perceive migration and asylum as two similar yet different things. From these changes, the piece became a more vital conversation to have.
Q: Was it difficult trying to find cast members?
A: Lucky enough to work with a number of actors. It was not too difficult, for example we worked with Sophie Parrot. We have been lucky to work with some great actors and actresses.
Q: Do you think the current migration situation is more of a crisis of conscience or a crisis in government and media in the way the public perceive migration?
A: A big problem is the term ‘migrant crisis’ as opposed to ‘refugee crisis’. It’s a big term to use and can refer to any number, for example it can refer to economic migrant who can be from any other place. The crisis could be called more of a refugee crisis because a lot of people are from fleeing for reasons they themselves haven’t caused or out of will. The media arguably contributes a lot to how we perceive the crisis. There’s little coverage at times and at other times there is nothing at all. It is troubling to follow media coverage as you are really getting all or nothing on the situation.
Q: What do you think can be done to help the ways in which the public perceive migration?
A: The Claim is less about asylum. It is more about what happens when someone arrives in the UK and tries to claim asylum. Rights are very minimal, the money qualification process, no access to jobs like citizens and the piece itself is deliberately how the UK treats people.
British registered charity Freedom From Torture have received 5 different accounts from 5 people in their interview process to try and acclaim asylum in the UK. Make people aware is how to help the public perceive migration and the asylum system.
Reach out to MP’s and colleagues and researching how the system operates in the UK. Look into what other organisations are trying to reach out and the work they do. For example, Right To Remain Manchester which challenges the need for practical solidarity for those in crisis who are at risk of detention. Even volunteering for the likes of City Sanctuary will help people understand how difficult the system is for those coming from overseas to acclaim asylum.
Q: How did the shows go in Sheffield and Exeter and what was the audience response?
A: We are really happy and we’re lucky to have the actors we do involved. We are still fine-tuning performances in front of audience and its getting better and better. We’ve even sold out our shows so far.
Q: What do you hope the audience will take away from the play?
A: It really depends on who the audience is. Recognition of their experience in happy awareness raised by the challenging message by raising the issue of absurdity of the system. The absurd process of the home office and you really couldn’t make it up. Subsequently, this play really questions people’s very own privilege and prejudices.
Q: What would you say is different about this play compared to other plays that may share a similar message?
A: I’d say this play is different as it places emphasis on the system over the people in it. The use of the interview table and having a Q and A from the audience at the end of the play makes it more interactive. It makes it more informative as well as being a play that has a lighter element to it. It humanises equal measures and looks at the strengths and weaknesses in human error.
Q: You are touring in six UK cities and one of the questions I wanted to ask was, how did the process come about in choosing where to perform and how was it decided that Manchester was somewhere to perform?
A: We have been hot off the press. Booking the tour can sometimes be pot luck as it can be decided that a piece may be perfect for a particular season or subject matter. We are in fact going to Newcastle Upon Tyne and another date will be added soon. The piece links with specific relationships in different cities with asylum. For example, the Canterbury show was next to Dover which has a changing landscape in migration. Manchester is massively diverse, and Sheffield is another city which is quite welcoming and has its problems and issues as well. Manchester has a brilliant theatre and the piece has potential to resignate with the audience. We have already had brilliant support with the Royal Exchange.
Q: Do you have any plans after The Claim Tour in the UK?
A: Sleep and hope that it isn’t the last tour. We’re looking to put the play in other towns, one step at a time…
The play will be performed in the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester from 10th-13th of January 2018.
Tickets: https://www.ents24.com/manchester-events/royal-exchange-theatre/the-claim/5051094
Photos courtesy of Paul Samuel White