Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, the award-winning creators of The Exonerated, traveled to the Middle East in June 2008 to interview 37 Iraqi refugees who fled their country for relative safety in Jordan. Following their visit, Ms. Blank and Mr. Jensen turned their conversations into a 90-minute documentary drama called “Aftermath“. The play, showing through October 18 at the New York Theater Workshop, follows the lives of nine Iraqis since the U.S. invasion in 2003. As noted in a review by the New York Times, “Aftermath” is shaped to make you feel as if you are the interviewer with the Iraqis always offering tea or coffee and answering unasked questions. An interpreter, Shahid, is always present, showing how those who know English are indispensable to the foreigners in their country and he provides translation and context for the Iraqis throughout the play. Following the lives of a doctor, an imam, an artist, a pharmacist and others, you find yourself unable to look away throughout the 90-minute production and leave wondering how many other devastating stories are left untold. Directed by Ms. Blank, “Aftermath” is an incredible representation of how violence, chaos and displacement have changed the lives of millions of Iraqis.
Click here to watch a trailer of the play.