About the Play

"These women are human beings and they deserve a chance. I think it is wrong to think we are better than certain people just because of the passport we have."

Hannah Khalil (2017)

The Scar Test (2017) tells the story of people detained at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal (formerly Detention) Centre in England. The detainees struggle to survive in the prison-like complex while they fight for their right to stay in the UK.

Some people came to England to escape horrors abroad. Some were brought to England on false pretenses. And some have lived in England for most of their lives. All of them face a complicated immigration system.

Inspired by interviews conducted by the playwright Hannah Khalil, The Scar Test asks us to confront the harrowing reality of immigrant rights in the UK.

Rehearsal photo from the 2017 production. Photo credit: William Henry Scott

What is a Scar Test?

Hannah Khalil titled the play after "a procedure used to determine whether detainees have undergone torture in their home countries." According to UK laws, a victim of torture cannot be detained at a facility like Yarl's Wood. But what about the forms of torture that don't always leave external scars? If a detainee can't show the scars of their trauma to the naked eye, they are at a disadvantage when it comes to seeking asylum. Often their invisible traumas are minimized or outright denied by the officials performing the test.

The Playwright

Hannah Khalil is a Palestinian-Irish writer based in the UK. Khalil has written over a dozen plays that have been produced across the UK and US. She has worked closely with prestigous theatres such as the National Theatre Studio in London, the Royal Court Young Writers' Programme in London, and the Tinderbox Theatre in Belfast. Her writing challenges Eurocentric narratives about Arab culture, immigration, women, and human rights. She creates theatre that confronts the enduring violence of colonialism.

"I think the problem often with the way things are talked about in the news is that events are taken in isolation, or at best with a cursory consideration of recent history." (2019. Photo credit: Ellie Kurttz)

click here for a Content Warning

Sexual assault/rapeRacismAbuseSelf-harm/suicideDeathKidnapping/abductionReferences to bloodSexism/misogynyHomophobiaTransphobiaGunshots

What is a Content Warning?

Content warnings "are verbal or written notices that precede potentially sensitive content." Content warnings differ from spoilers because they don’t explain plot or context. Similarly to a rating on a movie or TV show, content warnings give the audience a heads up about potentially triggering topics in the performance. We hope that providing the following content warnings will equip our audiences with the tools they need to engage with the performance in a meaningful and fulfilling way.

The Dramaturg's Binder

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