ABOUT FEAR UP

FEAR UP: Stories from Baghdad and Guantanamo is a riveting expose of the Iraq war and prisoner abuse.  Based on true stories of detainees, interrogators, military and civilians in Guantanamo, Baghdad and America, the piece reflects the baseline sense of fear we all feel under the constant barrage of revelations about the Iraq invasion.  Nine actors play twenty characters and give voice to the torture technique called Fear Up.

The title of the piece comes from the most recent version of the Army Field Manual 34-52, Intelligence Interrogation, which states:

“the interrogator's goal during the approach phase is to establish rapport with the detainee, which can be done via 17 different methods, including:


• "Emotional": taking advantage of a source's strong feelings
• “Fear up”: exploiting a source's fears, real or imagined
• "Pride and ego": flattering a source or attacking his pride, both to serve the purpose of putting him in a frame of mind to reveal information
• "Futility": using facts to prove to the source that his or her current situation is hopeless

These methods each have several sub-categories, such as “fear up (harsh)" or "ego-down," and are recommended to be used in combination with each other for the best effect.”

At the end, audiences are often left with the sense that whether we are in Baghdad, Guantanamo, Main Street USA, or Washington DC, we are sharing the same sense of invasion and loss.

But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, "Fear Up" connects us for a moment to the actions of our government.  That is what democracy is, in theory – a government that exists by its connection to the governed.

And that's why we started the Democracy Cell Project.  Too often, our daily lives go on without real connection to the actions being taken in our names, by our government, funded by our tax dollars.  We don't feel we have control over these policies.  "Fear Up" reminds us that we are obligated to know what our government is doing.

The Democracy Cell Project is dedicated to preserving and increasing the connection between ordinary Americans and our government.  The connection that our forefathers cherished:  Government of the people, by the people and for the people.

The sources for the piece are varied but consist of:

The book, BAGHDAD BURNING:  Girl Blog from Iraq, by Riverbend.  NY:  The Feminist Press, 2005.

The Observer, Sunday March 14, 2004 http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1169122,00.html

The New Yorker, Jane Mayer, “The Experiment” http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/050711fa_fact4

Various internet sites/chat rooms

The Premiere Performance of FEAR UP

The piece was originally staged at Busboys and Poets in Washington DC on Monday, September 12, 2005.  The compilers of the stories were Karen Bradley and Marietta Hedges, the director was Joe Brady and the actors were:

A subsequent performance was done at the Camden People’s Theatre in London, England April 12, 2006.  The director was Julia Barclay, assisted by Lucy Avery.  The actors were:

The piece begins with a section from Riverbend's Bagdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq entitled "Normal Day".   It goes like this:

Normal day today.  We were up at early morning, did the usual ‘around the house’ things, you know — check if the water tank is full, try to determine when the electricity will be off, checked if there was enough cooking gas…  You know what really bugs me about posting on the Internet, chat rooms or message boards?   The first reaction (usually from Americans) is “You’re lying, you’re not Iraqi.”   Why am I not Iraqi —- well, because a.) I have internet access (Iraqis have no internet) b.) I know how to use the internet (Iraqis don’t know what computers are) and c.) Iraqis don’t now how to speak English (I must be a liberal).   All that shouldn’t bother me, but it does. I see the troops in the streets and think, “so that’s what they thought of us before they occupied us…that may be what they think of us now.”

The piece segues into the story of the Tipton Three -- men from England who were traveling in Pakistan on September 11, 2001 and who wound up in Guantanamo.

In between Riverbend's poignant portraits of life in Iraq are comments from military personnel, family members of soldiers, interrogators at GITMO.   By the end, the audience has heard tales of the last four years that are nothing if not cause for rich discussion.

Would you like to host a sit-down read-through of the piece with your friends and neighbors OR a staged reading of the piece with actors?   Contact us at info@democracycellproject.net.   We would like to see this piece of truth live in many communities, and to touch as many people as possible.

We are available for consultation or further work on next stage productions, background material, or actual production work.   We ask you to cite the Democracy Cell Project (http://www.democracycellproject.net/) in any materials you distribute publicly.   Thank you.