Is deportation a double punishment, and if it is, do we care?
Daniel Nelson
“Everything you are about to see is word for word from deportees, politicians or an ICE officer (who we couldn’t resist spicing up a little bit.”)
The Special Relationship, Soho Theatre
ICE stands for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which is what The Special Relationship is about – specifically, the detention and deportation of six British people.
But it’s a little different from the usual theatrical riff on the subject, because the six are not innocents caught up in a random round-up but have committed various wrongs, including forgery, drug-dealing, and murder.
Author Hassan Abdulrazzak (born in Prague of Iraqi origin and living in London) tells their stories in a conventionally theatrical way: the characters take turns to speak and little by little a picture emerges of what each person has done, and what happened to them as a result.
But his writing is so good, as is the cast, that gradually you realise that there are a number of issues here: that people are fallible beings, sometimes behaving well and sometimes badly, and that it’s best not to rush to judgement; that individual stories are complex and not easily categorised; that immigration detainees are people and should be treated humanly; that profit-seeking in public services leads to distortions; that legally the dice have been loaded against poor detainees; that deporting people – for whatever reason – who have spent years in the country may leave festering problems, including broken families; that “they say it’s immigration detention, but it’s not – it’s jail”; that creating a hostile climate against any group inevitably leads to abuse.
Overall, Abdulrazzak asks, “Is deportation a double punishment, and if it is, do we care? It will be up to the audience to decide.”
But though the piece makes you think, it’s not dull and didactic. It’s smart, funny, entertaining theatre: one scene has The Donald and Boris Johnson duetting Send in the Clowns. (Isn't it rich?/ Are we a pair?/ Me here, at last, on the ground/ You in mid-air/ Send in the clowns)
* The Special Relationship by Hassan Abdulrazzak is at the Soho Theatre, Dean Street, W1, until 21 March. Info: 7478 0100/ https://sohotheatre.com/