Amendment to Terror
Written by Kevin Summers
Directed by Bec Russell
Starring Fabienne Parr, Nigel Johnston, Matthew Molony, Felicity Soper & Christopher Elliott
La Mama, Carlton Courthouse, Melbourne
Wednesday-Saturday, November 30-December 17
Email <liz@lamama.com.au>
BY SARAH STEPHEN
Amendment to Terror was written two years ago as a response to the amendment to the ASIO Act, which was the initial Commonwealth legislation to curtail civil liberties in our post-9/11 society. The current "counter-terrorism" legislation makes it even more pertinent and immediate.
The play is not a political lecture. It is meant to be theatrical entertainment (given that all real theatre is ipso facto political). Much of the play is fact-based. It shows how the legislation can be subverted by authorities and some elements of the media to destroy reputations and strike fear into society.
Amendment to Terror centres on two young journalists becoming embroiled in the realities of the anti-terror legislation. The principals, the young journalists, merely brush past the web of legislative intrusion — but that is enough. They find themselves in a fog of suspicion and accusation. It's an ordinary, everyday nightmare. It could happen to any one of us. As the body of legislation is now framed, the integrity of citizens can be questioned, and no-one will be accountable.
From Green Left Weekly, November 23, 2005.
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