Six Argentine and British war veterans teamed up to explore their Falklands / Malvinas memories together
'An extraordinary exercise in the mining of memory and the staging of history.' - The Stage
Writer/director Lola Arias brought together Argentine and British veterans to explore what remains in their heads after the war. The result is a cathartic piece of documentary theatre. After Arias selected the veterans through an open casting, they teamed up to retell their memories and write the play with the director. The British Council was involved in the project from the beginning, supporting the British veterans’ participation and helping with the negotiations between partners. The play premiered at Brighton Festival with great success and went on to tour 7 countries, including Argentina. Since then, we’ve been closely involved in the growth of the project, which has reached over 15,000 people so far. In 2017 we collaborated in its participation as one of the highlights of Spirit of ’47, which resulted in a series of BBC extracts.
Through the arts, Minefield has helped connect both sides of the Malvinas/Falklands conflict. For the veterans, bringing them together to work as a collaborative team to create the play and explore their memories more than thirty years later. For the audience, challenging their preconceptions of the conflict through the veteran’s recollections and shaping new ideas about war and its aftermath. The result is the UK’s international reputation enhanced through experiences of arts and culture, contributing to our cultural relations and soft power approaches.