Synopsis

The Thin Red Line is a documentary play that was created as part of a Writing Residency with the Independents Liverpool Biennial in 2018.

It is a critical and creative response to the UNITED List of refugees deaths that has been displayed in its entirety by Liverpool Biennial (2018) on the hoardings on Great George Street.

The List is of 34,361 documented deaths of refugees and migrants, as at 5 May 2018, due to the restrictive policies of “Fortress Europe”.

This is the story of three of the people on the List. This play has been constructed using verbatim words of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe.

Parts of the List have been on display in Liverpool since 12 July 2018 – there have been numerous attempts to remove it from the Great George Street site. This List was presented to the public by Liverpool Biennial in collaboration with Istanbul based artist Banu Cennetoglu who decided to share the rawness of the List of people who had died in their attempt to make a new life Europe; the original research was collated by Geert Ates from Holland.

Audience reviews and feedback

The inaugural performance of The Thin Red Line took place on 21 October 2018 at Hope Street Theatre, Liverpool.

The Thin Red Line is a play that is a critical and creative response to the UNITED list of refugees deaths – it gives voice to personal stories of people on the list. It is constructed using verbatim words from asylum seekers and refugees who have been confronted by ‘Fortress Europe’.

The inaugural performance was well attended, and a special guest, Geert Ates, the Director of the United List of Refugee Deaths travelled from Amsterdam to watch the play; he said,

“We were very happy that we took the decision to visit your play! Impressive, very well done. It boosts our motivation! I hope you manage to show this at schools.“

Other feedback from the audience:

“It had me entranced, hooked and almost in tears. So powerful, so real,”

“A quality piece that doesn’t waste time or energy on getting its message across,”

“Thank you for giving Asylum seekers and refugees a voice!! Amazing,”

“Thought provoking on several levels.”

“I was moved to tears.”

“Congratulations Marj Morgan on another powerful piece of writing.”

Discussions are underway to tour this production.

Updates will be provided on this page in the near future.

October 2018

“Art in Liverpool usually writes very outwardly, reflecting on the highs and lows of what’s going on around us, so the upcoming book has been a fascinating opportunity to self-reflect, often very critically of the festival, and its context.

Working with eight of Liverpool’s most exciting writers, the book includes work from Richard Billing, Jessica Fenna, Joanie Magill, Bernadette McBride, Paul McDermott, Marjorie Morgan and Callan Waldron-Hall.”

May 2019

The Thin Red Line – Long listed for the Upsetters Bunker Theatre Show in June.

“Very powerful verbatim piece about the refugees housed in the bleak Red Road estate in Glasgow. Packs a punch. Songs are a bonus.”