Welcome.
-Thank you. -Are you comfortable?
-Well... -I mean, settling in.
I appreciate you speaking in my language.
Have you been here long?
-I came here on holiday. -Oh, did you?
-Well, officially. -That's nice.
-But it's not really a holiday. -I need a holiday, I haven't had one for ages.
It's a story about I suppose about the British asylum system,
the process that refugees go through when they claim asylum
when they are coming here seeking refuge,
and it's about the kind of misunderstandings
and miscommunications that happen
as that process kind of develops through two interviews basically.
So it's a sort of abstraction in a way, play of the screening interview
and then the substantive interview that refugees have to do.
You said you came here on a holiday, you said.
-Well, officially. -But unofficially what?
Unofficially not.
Probably be simpler if you just pick one.
-Which one? -If possible of course officially.
-If possible? -But really whichever is the truth.
Yes, I want to give the truth.
I suppose it's also a play as much as anything about Britishness
and how our kind of attitudes and behaviours are kind of submerged
they're sort of there underneath that bureaucratic system
and really influence the outcome.
Those stories of who we are as a nation
kind of speak over the top of the stories of refugees
which are supposed to be the ones that are being listened to.
I got a tourist visa.
That makes sense.
Yeah, I paid a man called Saleem. It was the only way.
-I guess most incontinent travellers need... -Excuse me?
-I said most incontinent travellers needed.. -Incontinent?
Is it incontinent?
-No, I'm not. -Incontinental?
-Do you mean intercontinental? -Exactly.
It is incredibly funny to begin with because the absurdity of the language games
but then it changes hugely over the course of the piece
so something that starts quite light and a bit ambiguous
and a bit awkward and a bit British,
by the end of the piece it's very clear what's going on and the injustice
is kind of there for an audience to see.
What nationality, what country are you from?
-Country? -Yes, your country.
-My country Congo, but long time... -Good.
-Not good, very bad. -Are you from Democratic Republic of Congo?
-Or the other? Which? -What?
-Are you from DRC, Democratic Republic? -Yes.
OK, good, and when did you come here?
Today.
-You came to the country today? -Yes.
The fact that this interview is so unknown and also exists in lots of different countries
I think that's what makes it really interesting and exciting for us
to invite potential international audience
because it is something that affects a lot of countries
where asylum seekers and refugees are approaching countries to potentially stay,
and every single country will have its own version of this system.
Bang, bang. Yes?
-Bang, bang. That's a gun? -Yes.
So shall I say that you left because of an incident with a firearm?
Something like that?
It's long time. It's hard to speak. I feel shamed.
-I understand. -No understand.
When delegates are in Edinburgh,
there'll be opportunity to see one of the installations
to take part in a very practical workshop as well as a discussion
because we really believe that
hopefully when this show tours outside of the UK
we would want venues to consider housing and holding
those conversations as well as the show itself.
How do you know the words vacation, candy and peace?
-American is common, from TV. -From TV?
-I thought he was more into books. -I would die. OK?
If I go back, I will die.
He's quite anxious because he believes if he goes back he will die.