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Guantánamo: Honor Bound to Defend Freedom – Vol. 2 No. 1
Culture Project, 45 Bleecker St., 212-307-4100
Assembled by Victoria Brittain and Gillian Slovo,
Directed by Nicolas Kent and Sacha Wares
Sets and Costumes by Miriam Buether; Lighting by Johanna Town
With: Jeffrey Brick, Kathleen Chalfant, Steven Crossley, Ramsey Faragallah, Robert
Langdon Lloyd, Aasif H. Mandvi, Harsh Nayyar, Maulik Pancholy, Andrew Stewart-Jones,
Joris Stuyck and Waleed F. Zuaiter.
Guantánamo was originally produced by the Tricycle Theatre in London and is now enjoying a
successful run at the new Ambassadors Theatre. This is a documentary play based on the
spoken and written testimony of Guantánamo detainees - over 650 individuals since 2002 -
lawyers and public officials. The US government has refused to term the Guantánamo Bay
detainees prisoners of war or claim they are criminals awaiting trial. Therefore, these men can
receive no protection from either the Geneva Convention or from the US criminal justice system.
They are in a state of limbo. These interviews were conducted at the end of March and the
beginning of April 2004. The title of this piece comes from a sign hanging outside Camp X-Ray
in Guantánamo.
If you go to see this play, and I hope you do, you will be in for a slow and deliberate evening
where you may feel that you are sitting on a bench with the power to decide men’s fate. Were
that true, you would, at the very least, recommend that the 600 plus prisoners held at
Guantánamo each be charged with a crime and given the opportunity to defend themselves.
Too bad for them that their judge is George Bush.
This is not a plot driven piece. Brits like the sound of their own voices. For that matter – so do
I. They like to go on and on, then on some more. The total implausibility of these detentions,
flagrant disregard for international law and Geneva Conventions, and the senseless imprisonment
that is literally driving men insane – all these are presented, restated, and argued over and over.
It is a maddening repetition that becomes almost a drone until the moment that the play ends, and
you are allowed to leave the theatre. There is no curtain call. You are simply free to go. The
detainees are not.
The program for this production is a tome, a primer on Guantánamo. In it you will discover the
history of the base, its present occupants, and the trail of incidents that leads us to the present
situation. It is a worthy read. It will be a useful reference, combined with witnessing the stories
these excellent actors tell, as you hear news of Guantánamo in the coming weeks and you find
yourself wondering about the fate of your newfound brothers.
http://www.guantanamo.com
"NPR : Defense Challenges Guantanamo Trials"
©2004 Tulis McCall