Crows on the Wire: intermediality in applied drama and conflict transformation – ‘humanising’the police in Northern Ireland

Crows on the Wire (COTW) is an intermedial project deployingapplied theatre, educational drama and digital performance[Dixon, S. (2007). Digital Performance: A History of New Media inTheatre, Dance, Performance Art and Installation. Cambridge, MA:MIT Press] to explore the recent history of the peace process inNorthern Ireland – specifically the ‘transition’ of the police forcefrom the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) to the Police ServicesNorthern Ireland in November 2001. This ‘rebranding’ was a keyelement of the Good Friday Agreement (1998) that nominallyended the civil conflict known as ‘The Troubles’. The COTWproject, delivered by the Verbal Arts Centre based in Derry/Londonderry, expresses the anger and disaffection felt by somemembers of the RUC and the impact that this had on their senseof identity. It also addresses the perception that the RUC wassectarian and corrupt.