Cries2005final 9/6/05 3:24 pm Page 1 HUMAN Cries from the Heart 2005 RIGHTS WATCH A celebration of voices for justice in support of Human Rights Watch Cries2005final 9/6/05 3:24 pm Page 2 Welcome to Cries from the Heart 2005. We are privileged to present the unique line-up that you will see and hear this evening. We thank both the performers and many others who have generously given their time and energy to make this event a reality. We appreciate their belief in what we do. From Congo to Chechnya, from Darfur to Uzbekistan, from Baghdad to Beijing, Human Rights Watch produces detailed reports which highlight abuses on the ground—and thus help to produce change. In every corner of the world, Human Rights Watch fights for justice. Contrary to what people sometimes think, this need not be a losing battle. Your support helps us win new victories, on a daily basis. We hope that you will be inspired by the poems, prose and music you hear this evening. Steve Crawshaw, London Director, Human Rights Watch Good evening, and welcome to Shakespeare’s Globe, and this very special evening of words and music in support of Human Rights Watch. What you will see and hear tonight is not just a way of raising money for the work of Human Rights Watch, though; it is also a celebration of that work, that vital work, ensuring that people around the world are not denied their fundamental rights, that any who seek to infringe those rights are held to account. We have called this event ‘a celebration of voices for justice’. You will hear words translated from many languages and music from different cultures. You will hear the voices of those who have been oppressed and who have been strong enough to resist, whose rights have been denied them but who have fought back. We have chosen the pieces in tonight’s programme because they have inspired us, and we hope they will inspire you too. Needless to say, this evening would not have been possible without the generosity of our performers who have given their time for free; David Hare, who has been a constant source of advice; without the Human Rights Watch London Committee for their support and enthusiasm; nor without the hospitality of Shakespeare’s Globe. We owe them all thanks. To be able to work with all of these people, in this remarkable space, is an extraordinary opportunity. The work that Human Rights Watch does is invaluable. Thank you for helping that work to continue. Enjoy your evening. Daniel Hahn, Programme Director, Cries from the Heart Cries2005final 9/6/05 3:24 pm Page 3 Cries from the Heart 2005 A celebration of voices for justice in support of Human Rights Watch with readings by George Alagiah Fergal Keane Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze Andrew Motion Christian Coulson Thandie Newton Sinead Cusack Sophie Okonedo Judi Dench Diana Quick Joseph Fiennes Mark Rylance David Hare Lemn Sissay Saeed Jaffrey Juliet Stevenson Fraser James The Poetry SLAMbassadors Linton Kwesi Johnson and music by Melanie Marshall Glen Matlock Rajkumar Misra Anna Wolstenholme Monday, 13 June 2005 Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre Photo © 2001 Stanley Greene, Chechnya 21 New Globe Walk London SE1 9DT Cries2005final 9/6/05 3:24 pm Page 4 Cries from the Heart Selected Readings First They Came for the Jews By Pastor Martin Niemöller and translated by H. Schiff First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out – because I was not a communist Then they came for the Trade Unionists and I did not speak out – because I was not a Trade Unionist Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak out for me. Cries2005final 9/6/05 3:24 pm Page 5 from Sir Thomas More By William Shakespeare Imagine that you see the wretched strangers, Their babies at their backs, with their poor luggage Plodding to th’ports and coasts for transportation, And that you sit as kings in your desires, Authority quite silenced by your brawl And you in ruff of your opinions clothed: What had you got? I’ll tell you. You had taught How insolence and strong hand should prevail, How order should be quelled – and by this pattern Not one of you should live an aged man, For other ruffians as their fancies wrought With selfsame hand, self reasons, and self right Would shark on you, and men like ravenous fishes Would feed on one another … All You Who Sleep Tonight By Vikram Seth All you who sleep tonight Far from the ones you love No hand to left or right, And emptiness above – Know that you aren’t alone, The whole world shares your tears, Some for two nights or one, And some for all their years. Cries2005final 9/6/05 3:24 pm Page 6 The Most Unbelievable Part By Marjorie Agosin and translated by Cola Franzen The most unbelievable part, they were people like us good manners well-educated and refined. Versed in abstract sciences, always took a box for the Symphony made regular trips to the dentist attended very nice prep schools some played golf… Yes, people like you, like me family men grandfathers uncles and godfathers. But they went crazy delighted in burning children and books played at decorating cemeteries bought furniture made of broken bones dined on tender ears and testicles. Thought they were invincible meticulous in their duties and spoke of torture in the language of surgeons and butchers. They assassinated the young of my country and of yours. now nobody could believe in Alice through the looking glass now nobody could stroll along the avenues without terror bursting through their bones And the most unbelievable part they were people like you like me yes, nice people just like us. Cries2005final 9/6/05 3:24 pm Page 7 Selected Readings The Survivor By Tadeusz Rozewicz I am twenty-four led to slaughter I survived. The following are empty synonyms: man and beast love and hate friend and foe darkness and light. The way of killing men and beasts is the same I’ve seen it: truckfuls of chopped-up men who will not be saved. Ideas are mere words: virtue and crime truth and lies beauty and ugliness courage and cowardice. Virtue and crime weigh the same I’ve seen it: in a man who was both criminal and virtuous. I seek a teacher and a master may he restore my sight hearing and speech may he again name objects and ideas may he separate darkness from light. I am twenty-four led to slaughter I survived. Cries2005final 9/6/05 3:24 pm Page 8 Selected Readings War Has Been Given a Bad Name By Bertolt Brecht I am told that the best people have begun saying How, from a moral point of view, the Second World War Fell below the standard of the First. The Wehrmacht Allegedly deplores the methods by which the SS effected The extermination of certain peoples. The Ruhr industrialists Are said to regret the bloody manhunts Which filled their mines and factories with slave workers. The intellectuals, So I heard, condemn industry’s demand for slave workers Likewise their unfair treatment. Even the bishops Dissociate themselves from this way of waging war; in short the feeling Prevails in every quarter that the Nazis did the Fatherland A lamentably bad turn, and that war While in itself natural and necessary has, thanks to the Unduly uninhibited and positively inhuman Way in which it was conducted on this occasion, been Discredited for some time to come. Untitled By Emily Dickinson I never hear the word ‘escape’ Without a quicker blood, A sudden expectation, A flying attitude. I never hear of prison broad By soldiers battered down. But I tug childish at my bars, -- Only to fail again. Cries2005final 9/6/05 3:24 pm Page 9 The End and the Beginning By Wislawa Szymborska and translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh After every war Someone, broom in hand, someone’s got to tidy up. still remembers how it was. Things won’t pick Someone else listens, nodding themselves up, after all. his unshattered head. But others are bound to be bustling nearby Someone’s got to shove who’ll find all that the rubble to the roadsides a little boring. so the carts loaded with corpses can get by. From time to time someone still must dig up a rusted argument Someone’s got to trudge from underneath a bush through sludge and ashes. and haul it off to the dump. through the sofa springs, the shards of glass, Those who knew the bloody rags. what this was all about must make way for those Someone’s got to lug the post who know little. to prop the wall, And less than that. someone’s got to glaze the window, And at last nothing less set the door in its frame. than nothing. No sound bites, no photo opportunities, Someone’s gotta lie there and it takes years. in the grass that covers up All the cameras have gone the causes and effects to other wars. with a cornstalk in his teeth, gawking at clouds. The bridges need to be rebuilt, the railroad stations, too. Shirt sleeves will be rolled to shreds. Cries2005final 9/6/05 3:24 pm Page 10 Gold from the Stone By Lemn Sissay Gold from the stone You can’t give light to the moon Oil from earth Nor mist to the drifting cloud I yearned for home I shall be leaving here soon From the time of my birth Costumed cultured and crowned Strength of a whisper Sugar from the cane Shall carry me until Coal from the wood The hand of my lost sister Water from the rain Joins onto my will Life from the blood Root to the earth Gold from the stone Blood from the heart Oil from the earth Could never from birth I yearned for my home Be broken apart Ever since my birth Food from the platter Food from the platter Water from the rain Water from the rain The subject the matter – The subject and the matter I’m going home again I’m going home again.