"I’d like the people sitting in the theatre watching this not to see us as animals in a cage, but as human beings"
Above is the opening line from an incredible play coming to Dublin this week.
'The Examination' is a documentary performance work exploring mental health and human rights in the prison system in the UK and Ireland that originally debuted in March and made an appearance at the Edinburgh Fringe last month.
Based on historical research and interviews with current life-sentence serving prisoners and performed by stand-up comedian and former prisoner Willie White.
'An eye for an eye just leaves everybody blind'.
THE EXAMINATION opens tonight 8pm. 👉Performed by comedian and actor @williewhite1 and Brokentalkers @garyhas4letters
👉 @Gildedballoon 🎟 https://t.co/iCUQGbFdGo#TheExamination #edfringe📸 Luca Truffarelli pic.twitter.com/6rkPNn7V3Q
— Brokentalkers (@Brokentalkers) August 13, 2019
Willie is a recovering drug addict, who at his worst was hooked on heroin, homeless and spent time in and out of prison and psychiatric units, but that was then.
He has since used these past experiences to transform his life, a journey he was proud to discuss on Today FM's Dermot and Dave.
White doesn't really believe in regrets saying, "I've had a doomy and gloomy past which has brought me here today", but does admit that things could have been a lot different if he hadn't met the right person last time he was behind bars:
6 lads out of the group of 10 I went into treatment with in Mountjoy are dead
He also praises Gary Keegan and Feidlim Cannon, the directing geniuses behind internationally renowned theatre company Brokentalkers, who have helped give voice to a section of society often ignored.
You can catch The Examination at the Project Arts Centre Space Upstairs as part of the Dublin Fringe from September 6th-11th (click here for tickets).
Check out Willie's chat in full by pressing the play button on screen.
