My Name is Other
A community-based research and development project into hate crime and the mechanisms of othering and scapegoating in the United Kingdom
September - November 2018
“Police data shows 48% rise in hate crime flagged as race-related”
The aim of MY NAME IS OTHER is to conduct research, consult with experts and gather personal stories to inform the writing of a political text for a full-length production scheduled to run in London in 2019. The text will be informed through community-theatre group workshops and one-on-one interviews with migrant and refugee participants, alongside in-depth interviews and consultancy with field experts on displacement and racism.
MY NAME IS OTHER will create a platform for marginalised and silenced voices in migrant and refugee communities to be heard, and will offer the audience and participants an insight into the mechanics of scapegoating and othering, how social, economic and political factors form national identity and will investigate how past and current right-wing ideologies systematically breed hostile environments for those most vulnerable.
This project is driven by a deep concern for the existence of ‘accepted’ racist and fascist sentiments, and anger at the state-led normalisation of violence(s) against 'the other’. Our objective for MY NAME IS OTHER is to expose the state’s divide and conquer tactics and investigate its motives to arm audiences with awareness, knowledge and empathy.
Our London-based interviews and workshops will take place at our partner spaces, Applecart Arts Theatre and Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network.
The R&D has informed the writing of ILLEGALISED. Find details for rehearsed readings and tour of the show here.
“Well I would like to ask the British what visa they had when they ruled us for 150 years?”
— S, interviewed in September 2018, London
“It’s even worse [than colonial times] because this one is done through paperwork (…) but where these laws are being made you can’t accuse anybody, you will accuse just a big office, Home Office…”
— NN, interviewed in November 2018, London
RESEARCH TEAM
Director-writers: Sînziana Cojocărescu and Nico Vaccari
Actors: Angel Carousel, Lizzie Clarke and Theo Green
Producer: Claire Gilbert
40 participants/interviewees
Field experts and project consultants: Malia Bouattia, Dr. Monish Bhatia, Dr. Umut Erel, Dr. Olivia Vicol, Alexandra Bulat
Stage manager: Debs Machin
PARTNERS
Applecart Arts Theatre, community-based theatre in Plaistow, London
Camden People's Theatre, political theatre in London
Work Rights Centre, a London-based charity which provides free and confidential employment rights advice
Dr. Dora-Olivia Vicol, Chair of Trustees at the Work Rights Centre and Research Associate at Queen Mary University
Malia Bouattia, activist and journalist, former president of the National Union of Students and a prominent voice in the UK’s anti-racism front
Dr. Monish Bhatia, Researcher and Lecturer in Criminology at Birkbeck University
Dr. Umut Erel, Sociologist, The Open University, UK
Alexandra Bulat, PhD Candidate, School of Slavonic and East European Studies, UCL
Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network, London-based charity providing free and confidential immigration advice on all aspects of immigration and asylum law.
MY NAME IS OTHER has been supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England, The Really Useful Group and the Unity Theatre Trust.
