Putting Iraq's Refugee Crisis On Stage

Since the war in Iraq began in 2003, it’s believed that more than 4 million Iraqis have fled their homes. About half of the displaced are still living within Iraq, and the other half in neighboring countries, mostly in Jordan and Syria.

It’s a growing humanitarian disaster. Without legal status, refugees are forced to turn to crime or prostitution. Aid groups are overwhelmed, and governments are afraid that sectarian tensions could spill over among the exiles.

Two playwrights from New York, Jessica Blank and her husband, Eric Jensen, travelled to Amman, Jordan last summer to interview some of those refugees. Those conversations are now being transformed into a series of monologues that will be performed at Dartmouth College this weekend, as part of the New York Theatre Workshop. Jessica Blank joins Word of Mouth to discuss the process of turning interview transcripts into documentary theater.

You can catch a performance of the "Iraq Refugees Project" at Dartmouth's Warner Bentley Theater on Friday, August 15 at 8 pm, and on Saturday, August 16 at 5 pm. Tickets are $10, Dartmouth students $3, all other students $6.

(Photo by James Gordon)