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Comments from the War Stories Workshop - London 11/7/99

Stephen Lowe

" I wish I could rise to the poetry that inhabited the day so wonderfully/painfully - the act of sharing with strangers those hidden stories we often see no point in telling. Perhaps the healing goes on by some remote control, one's own story cannot necessarily work the self-affecting medicine as doctors are told to do - physician heal thyself"............."I wish to thank all the other participants for a gift I do not wish to name for fear I lose it in the definition".

Tanya Myers

"Meeting Ground has always been about creating spaces; spaces for people to meet, to share and to invest lives, feelings, stories and secrets. It was an honour to participate and be witness to others, and knowing our work has only just begun, it fills me with hope and motivation.".........."How do we build trust? How can we transform war into an 'active' reality of peace?........."Our lives are small and mean and we scramble to justify, acquire and protect. We are in fact, always in fear. I want to transform this fear. I don't believe in it anymore."

Jane Garioni

"I learnt an enormous amount about different feelings towards a life-threatening event, the struggle for survival, the reserve strengths and capabilities-both physical and emotional-that we possess, a moment in time when 'something' happens inside making all logic and all words incidental or even redundant. All that was quite mind-blowing because it hit the depths of the psyche and left you emotionally exhausted but with a lot to ponder on."

Noura Sakkaf

I am very grateful to you for allowing me to participate in this workshop. I think the choice of participants was excellent, it allowed for a lot of variety and for different levels of thought and emotions to emerge........"On a personal level, I felt very liberated from the burden of that particular incident. I also felt very drained and yet I wanted more. I left the workshop with the intense desire to carry on with this exercise and with those people.".... I was very struck by the level of honesty that came from all of us, honesty about our own prejudices and weaknesses and I think there is a lot more where that came from. I for one would be more than willing to commit to this work and any theatrical project that may develop from it".

Anthony Meyer

"On one level we were a group of articulate, concerned human beings, trying to deal with the problems of war and our own reactions to war. On another we were making three dimensional pictures, moving other bodies around more or less consciously to make images we sort of had in our mind but which even when we were successful in constructing, didn't necessarily convey what we thought they might. That I liked and I think it is just that element of chance, chemistry and the moment, of theatre in fact, which can liberate future work and loosen our own prejudices and fears."

Christophoros Panoutsos

"The atmosphere created was a respectful one, a cautious one and also a trustful one, which was very important in order all these different people open up, in such a generous way"......"It would be good to see the project move forwards and I hope that I will be able to contribute to it in the future."

Alan Marni

"Looking back on things it seems to me that we were effectively attempting to deconstruct war in some way, so that we could try and define it. Does it have a definition..if so is it possible to find in a day?"........."I'm struck with the irresponsible and criminal use of language by war mongers and those involved in war. It is the one weapon that can be used on everyone, whether it be those directly effected or those that watch through their television miles away from the actual conflict or battleground"...."I look forward to our next 'Meeting Ground@ and to hear what other people's reactions and thoughts are."

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