Theatrical Plausibility in the Drama of Migration

Abstract This article examines forms of plausibilisation in British performances that engage with asylum seeking. It argues in two case studies, on Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play Credible Witness (2001) and the theatre project The Trojans (2019), developed in 2018 and 2019 with Syrian refugees in Glasgow, there are multiple aspects of plausibility that are crucial in the drama of migration: the examination of the plausibility features required for a believable asylum story, the use of documentary material and techniques to heighten the performances’ authenticity, the reactivation of ancient rituals and dramaturgies to give weight and a historical perspective to current migration issues, and the appeal to the politicised faith of the audience, their identification with the refugees that is fed by political conviction. As a communal art form, the theatre offers a space for reflection on the legal logic of plausibility in asylum procedures. Rather than demanding a well-founded case, the theatre can explore conflicting plausibilities, develop counter-plausibilities, and thus question the routines of legal procedures as well as of cultural plausibilisation processes that rarely acknowledge the co-production of plausibility.