The Fall

The concept of communal ‘resilience’ has become the subject of study and evaluation in academic fields such as biographical and sociological studies following international humanitarian concern about large-scale suffering in civil war, Cambodia (1975/79) and disaster, Mediterranean Migrant Movement (2011/16). However, Arnfield’s activities as a theatre practitioner have long addressed the scripting and performing of first-hand accounts of survival and resilience offering a practice based alternative to academic research. As theatre director, Arnfield led the interpretation and adaption of Rubin’s script for the stage, contributing to the role of 'Docudrama’ and ‘Theatre of the Real’ techniques generating public understanding of the scope for recovery demonstrated by communities impacted by terrorism. The practice of blending and recreating archived testimonies isolated and communicated the special function of resilience in relation to traumatic loss. Audiences bear witness to The Fall as surrogates/second surrogates/hosts/carriers of original testimony. Arnfield focuses on handing down and on - host to actor (first surrogate), to audience second surrogate & third host (Arnfield 2013). Arnfield also commissioned an acoustic score to accentuate her methodology producing a Theatre of Defiance (Arnfield 2016) Original Tuesday’s Children testimonies were activated, integrated, adapted for stage by Rubin and Arnfield (2011) Northern Stage Newcastle upon Tyne UK (2014), NYC International Fringe (2016 August), The National September 11 Memorial & Museum NYC (2016 August) and selected to Encore Series NYC International Fringe for an off Broadway transfer NYC Soho Playhouse (2016 October).