Two years ago, on the occasion of the RJ WEEK 2015, which coincided with the 15th anniversary of the EFRJ, we organised several activities in Leuven including the play of a theatre performance of RJ entitled ‘A Conversation’.
Two years after, we are happy to announce that this theatre play will turn into a film, which will be launched during the RJ WEEK 2017 (19-26 November)! Indeed, the EFRJ is currently coordinating the making of the filming of the play ‘A Conversation’ written by David Williamson, adapted to a European context and directed by Peter Harris, and performed by the amateur theatre group No Theatre.
No Theatre is a non-profit theatre group based in Norway with actors from all over the world. Since about 6 years, it has been dedicated to perform the play ‘A Conversation’. The play is about the meeting between two families: the parents of a young woman who was raped and murdered and the family of the offender.
The EFRJ will receive funding from the Ministry of Justice of Catalonia (represented by Marc Ceron Riera, former member of the Criminal Justice Platform Europe), the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice of the Basque country (represented by Roberto Moreno Alvarez, one of the EFRJ Board members) and the European Commission through a grant to the EFRJ.
Thanks to these sponsors, the film will be subtitled in English and Spanish. If you wish to contribute to this filming project, sponsoring part of it (or the making of a shorter film) or maybe even providing subtitles in other languages, please contact the EFRJ Secretariat before 16 May. Your organisation and logo will still be included in the credit lines of the film and, as well as all sponsors of this filming project, you will have access to the film (to be screened for non-commercial purposes, as agreed with No Theatre).
SOME DETAILS ABOUT THE THEATRE PLAY ‘A Conversation’, as explained by No Theatre
‘A Conversation’ is a play written by the Australian playwright David Williamson. It was developed in close collaboration with John McDonald, a leading expert in the field of community conferencing (a method for reconciliation in criminal justice), which is also one of the subjects in the play. The play and the performance itself is a powerful example of the transformative power of dialogue for people affected by crime and trauma. It shows how conflict can be reduced through mediation between perpetrators and victims. It is not an easy play to watch, or to perform. ‘A Conversation’ is an important contribution to the ongoing discourse on restorative justice.
SOME DETAILS ABOUT THE THEATRE GROUP, as explained by No Theatre
No Theatre is an Oslo-based community theatre group of non-professional actors from Norway, Spain, Germany, UK, Belgium and with a director from the UK. They all have other jobs, but they are very committed in playing ‘A Conversation’: they believe, really and passionately, about the subject of their play and they have been inspired to see that it had such a powerful effect on the audience so far. They sincerely hope that their play can help influence the approach of the criminal justice system to reconciliation and ultimately that the power of dialogue is recognised as a key factor in facilitating reconciliation and forgiveness after a crime has been committed.
SOME DETAILS ABOUT THE FILM of the theatre play ‘A Conversation’
- Plot keywords: theatre; restorative justice; crime; rape; homicide; community conferencing; true story; victim; perpetrator; family; encounter; dialogue; reconciliation.
- Genre: Drama
- Date of release: November 2017
- Length: 1h 20min
- Audio: English (please note that the actors are from different countries and the English is spoken with different accents)
- Subtitles: English/ Spanish (contact the EFRJ Secretariat before 18 May if you wish to contribute to the making of other subtitles!)
- Director: Peter Harris. Writer: David Williamson. Theatre coordinator: Siw Risøy.
- Cast: click here to know more about all actors!
- This is a film of a play, and not a movie in its own right. In other words the script and the performance is directed to a live audience, hence might be perceived differently on video. Also, all the actors have performed the play live at several occasions, but most of them have never performed in a film.
SOME RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PLAY
‘A Conversation is a really powerful play. The first time I saw it, I was hit in the stomach. It was raw, it was naked. It was not like anything else I had seen before.’ Mona Mathisen, youth coordinator, The Norwegian Mediation Centre
‘Having myself worked for some years with similar processes of conflict management, I find [A Conversation] to be the best and the most realistic representation of such a process.’ Espen Foss, Advisor, Street mediation, Norwegian Red Cross
