Villanova Theatre Preview: The Scar Test
THE SCAR TEST
By Hannah Khalil
Directed by Claire Moyer
Streaming on demand March 25–April 4
“We’re in prison. But we’ve done nothing wrong…I just–I can’t believe this is England.”
They expected to be free from the horrors of their homelands when they finally fled to the United Kingdom; instead, imprisoned together at Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre, a cohort of asylum seekers find themselves stuck in limbo, stripped of their privacy, and isolated a world away from the lives they used to know.
Based on interviews with current and former detainees, Irish-Palestinian playwright Hannah Khalil’s The Scar Test offers a powerful and unflinching snapshot of life inside England’s migrant detention system. Fiercely felt and fearlessly told, The Scar Test is an incendiary theatrical experience that will stay with you long after the performance has ended. Click here for more information and a content advisory. Check out the teaser video for the show.
An award-winning Palestinian Irish playwright and dramatist, Hannah Khalil is Villanova University’s 2021 Charles A. Heimbold Jr. Chair of Irish Studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences for the spring 2021 semester. The visiting writer-in-residence program offers Irish Studies students the enriching experience of a close classroom experience with one of Ireland’s finest authors.
Cost: $10 suggested donation per viewer.
Run time: approximately one hour.
Content Warnings: Racism, Sexism/misogyny, Homophobia, Transphobia, References to and discussion of Sexual assault/rape, Abuse, Self-harm/suicide, Death, Kidnapping/abduction, blood, gunshots.
Learn more about Hannah Khalil and The Scar Test:
- Falvey’s collection include several of Hannah Khalil’s books, in addition to The Scar Test.
- Learn more about Hannah Khalil and her plays on Drama Online.
- Watch “The Scar Test in Conversation” with The Scar Test Production Dramaturg Kate Fischer and Director Claire Moyer. They spoke with Margaret O’Sullivan, Executive Director of Nationalities Service Center and Michele R. Pistone, Professor of Law at Villanova and Director of the Clinic for Asylum, Refugee, and Emigrant Services at Villanova.