King’s Legal Clinic Debuts Promise on Windrush
‘The Promise’ aims to creatively portray findings of King’s Legal Clinic research on the Windrush scandal and the experiences of the Windrush community.
On 4 July, King’s Legal Clinic hosted the first performance of ‘The Promise’ to an invited audience of stakeholders from across Government, Parliament, the Windrush community, charities, legal press and others.
Funded by King’s Culture, ‘The Promise’ is part of ‘Lost and Found: Stories of Sanctuary and Belonging’, a free programme of arts and ideas at King’s, created with artists, researchers, academics and communities from London and beyond.
The immersive performance draws on real-life testimonies from those impacted by the Home Office Windrush scandal, alongside research undertaken by King’s Legal Clinic to provide new insights into the ongoing harms of the Home Office Windrush scandal.
Audiences embarked on an interactive journey of obstacles, loopholes, tests and trials across multiple rooms in the historic King’s Building on the Strand Campus – all designed to reflect the frustrations and betrayals of those navigating the Windrush Compensation Scheme (WCS).
Friday’s performance was followed by three sold out performances on Saturday where 75 members of the public attended. They described the performance as ‘very moving’, ‘insightful’ and a ‘shocking injustice’ and would recommend others see the show.
Audiences attended a post-show reception, where they had the opportunity to discuss the performance and the issues raised with a range of experts, including Windrush community members, Southwark Law Centre, Action for Racial Equality, and Claudio Jones Organisation. 80% of attendees reported they learned a lot about the impact of the WCS with the remaining 20 % stating they already had knowledge as they were victim-survivors or advocates. 100% believed that the WCS needed reform, with all supporting the introduction of government-funded legal advice for victims. Between 60-80% supported a public Inquiry and an independent body to administer the WCS.
Creative collaboration
The performance was developed by theatre-makers Tian Brown-Sampson and Brian Mullin in collaboration with Shaila Pal from King’s Legal Clinic, as well as members of the Windrush community, including Windrush Lives, Windrush Justice Clinic clients, and Southwark Law Centre. To develop the performance, survivors and victims of the Windrush scandal generously shared their experience with Brian and Tian over a period of a year.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/kings-legal-clinic-launches-innovative-immersive-performance-the-promise-to-highlight-windrush-experiences-and-research