When we read about Graham online, we see photos of him from his younger years surrounded by football trophies. He weighed 28.5kg (4st 7lb) when his body was discovered by bailiffs who had broken down his front door to evict him for non-payment of rent. One of the most powerful images from Museum of Austerity is that of Errol Graham, a 57-year-old grandfather who died emaciated in his bed when his benefits were stopped. “But it is not normal that the welfare system that is supposed to keep you alive does the exact opposite,” she added. This was a culture that had become normalised over more than a decade of austerity, said Wares, who worked with the disability journalist John Pring on finding and telling the stories in a blend of theatre, history, art and technology. It is juxtaposed with audio from the House of Commons in which politicians orate on how it is too generous and rife with fraudulent claims. Though the 3D holograms are played by actors, each of their stories is narrated by a real family member of the person who died after cruel treatment at the hands of the Department for Work and Pensions’ harsh and punitive disability benefits system. “It’s a really angry piece of work,” the director, Sacha Wares, said.
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