293 STP 31 (3) pp. 293–304 Intellect Limited 2011 Studies in Theatre & Performance Volume 31 Number 3 © 2011 Intellect Ltd Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/stap.31.3.293_1 KEYWORDS asylum seekers hypermediacy credibility authenticity refugee theatre RAND T. HAZOU Hypermediacy and credibility in documentary theatre: The craft of make-believe in Théâtre du Soleil’s Le Dernier Caravansérail (2005) ABSTRACT This article examines the potential role that media technology can play in the presentation of documentary material onstage. Using Théâtre du Soleil’s Le Dernier Caravansérail/The Last Caravanserai (2005) as a case study, this article focuses on the ‘intermediality’ of the production and on the various media and digital technologies that are used in performance to both mediate and mediatize the accounts of asylum seekers that are transposed to the stage. By situating Le Dernier Caravansérail as an ‘intermedial’ performance, I am hoping to open up an interdisciplinary framework that draws on concepts from media studies and communication theory in order to provide a more nuanced discussion and analysis. Two concepts emerging from these fields that I focus on are the notions of ‘hypermediacy’ and ‘credibility’. Focusing on Théâtre du Soleil’s anti-realist aesthetic, I argue that the digital technologies used in the production not only work to highlight the artifice of the theatrical event by foregrounding the production’s own processes of representation and mediation, but they can also procure ‘hypermedial’ effects of propinquity and engagement. While ‘credibility’ has been STP_31.3_Hazou-293-304.indd 293 STP_31.3_Hazou-293-304.indd 293 11/1/11 6:06:53 PM 11/1/11 6:06:53 PM