Foreign bodies: British theatre and the staging of humanitarian intervention

Fowler, Dawn

Abstract

This paper considers the attempts made by British theatre to characterize foreign aid workers in areas of war and conflict since 2009. It is argued that changes in the political and cultural landscape of British theatre have resulted in an increased range of dramatic responses to foreign policy, global conflict, and humanitarian crises. Using a range of primary examples, including selected plays from the Tricycle Theatre’s The Great Game: Afghanistan and Matt Charman’s The Observer, the article examines how playwrights have used the figure of the aid worker to provide a locus of commentary on the nature of Western humanitarian intervention and response in recent wars. The central argument is that the ostensibly non-violent role of the aid worker, as neither victim nor perpetrator of war, provides a unique vantage point for observation on the action. Both visitors and citizens in theatrical depictions of war zones carry a complex range of signifying functions that are performed and read both between the actors on stage and the audience watching. Each of the considered theatrical responses to the role of foreign interventionism on humanitarian grounds, I argue, provides insights into the use of bodies as carriers of significant political and social symbolism that can be as destructive as it is positive.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: UWE Drama Research Group
• Start Date: Mar 1, 2012
• End Date: Mar 1, 2012
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: foreign bodies, British theatre, humanitarian intervention
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/949302
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : UWE Drama Research Group