Witness

The strongest people are those who can look at little children’s hands that have been chopped off, or eyes that have been poked out, or testicles that have been ripped out…Being an interpreter is a kind of punishment. A woman translates the stories of survivors of the war in Yugoslavia for a Swedish therapist. As he grows ever more indifferent she finds it increasingly difficult to maintain her professional distance. For her, simply saying the words is not enough. She finds herself risking her job, her sense of perspective and even her sanity in order to make a connection with those she encounters, or at least one of them in particular…An interpreter tells her story, but ultimately, she can only do it through the stories she has translated for others. Written in 1995 and based on real events this provocative monologue asks how truthfully any human can bear witness to another’s experience. Performance at the Gate Theatre in 2002.