Using theatre to explore the lure of online extremism
THEATRE IN this country has a long tradition of tackling important and controversial topics and Javaad Alipoor’s is just the latest to do so.
The Bradford-born theatre-maker’s one man show, which premieres at the Transform 17 festival in Leeds this week, considers whether a crisis in masculinity is causing young men to retreat into an online world of fantasy, radicalisation and violence.
Alipoor spent months researching the issue of radicalisation and how young people, especially men, are seduced into joining extremist organisations.
“When it comes to extreme acts of violence we like to tell ourselves that the people who commit them are monsters and evil.
“But actually everyone’s got a story of why they’ve done something, there’s always some kind of rationalisation that people give for their actions,” says Alipoor.
“If you blocked out the big headlines and the extremism they were caught up in there were a million and one stories that had taken them there.
“The big stereotypical story we see a lot in the West is based around the idea of young Muslims who don’t like the complexities of modern western life and seek a simpler life.
“Actually, these young people are often thirsting for adventure, they’re rebelling against their parents and the country they grew up in.”
As part of his research, Alipoor talked to investigative journalists and academics, and also tried contacting people who claimed to be members of the so-called Islamic State (IS) to try and understand what motivated people to join such extremist groups.
He believes organisations like IS are ‘selling’ a world inspired by online fantasies and computer videos, rather than religion, to would-be jihadis.
“If you look at their propaganda there’s almost no level of theological discussion, but what it does have and what groups like IS are selling to those young people is a life that has the epic quality of a computer game or a film.”
He says that radicalisation is a complex issue. “There’s a narrative around Islamic extremism that it’s a Muslim problem and I don’t think it is, I think it’s a young man problem.
“With the rise of the Alt-right, particularly in America, and the role of the internet in that I think as a society we’ve got a generation of young men who have certain issues that are exacerbated by the internet and fantasy.”
Alipoor himself comes from a mixed race background and grew up on a working class estate in Bradford. He studied philosophy at the University of Leeds and as well as producing his own work he is now artistic director of the community theatre company Northern Lines.
In his latest show, he appears on stage telling stories based around his research aided by what he calls “a lot of technology”. But although he embraces social media and video technology he believes theatre remains an important way of bringing people together.
“These days you can watch great stories on TV or at the cinema, you’ve got YouTube on your phone and Netflix at home. With the theatre you’re telling stories, too, but what it also does is it gets people in a space together to tell a story and from there they go on a shared journey. Other mediums aren’t able to do that.
“So for me, the great thing about theatre is it’s a way of inviting a live audience into a different world and making them really feel part of that, rather than just sitting watching in the darkness.”