“The scope of The Guantanamo Boy project is far reaching. It pushes to the foreground a discussion on fundamental human rights issues that are not only pertinent to our own time but which are, in fact, timeless; torture and ill treatment, indefinite detention, rendition, death penalty, fair trial and secret evidence.

 

These discussion areas are the building blocks for understanding democratic values and the rule of law and Guantanamo Boy provides a fantastic conduit for young people to engage with these issues- it being a story about a young person trapped in a nightmare world, which is, in fact, a real place. The eager and vigorous interaction and engagement from the young audience who attended the evening is testament to that.

 

The young people in the audience were clearly enthralled by the theatre piece. This unsurprising as the production unflinchingly challenged the audience to directly face the issues raised by the Guantanamo Bay saga by further developing and extrapolating by the issues raised by the novel. The young audience were very keen to take up these issues further after the evening was finished and I was approached by a number of them afterwards eager to ask questions. Some even wished to apply for work experience in the field of human rights."

 

Edward Grieves Human Rights Barrister at Garden Court Chambers,

Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields, London