DEEP CUT To 21 November 2009.

Tour.

DEEP CUT
by Philip Ralph.

Sherman Cymru Tour to 21 November 2009.
Runs 1hr 15min No interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 3 October at Oxford Playhouse.

Theatre that holds a mirror up to society.
At Live Theatre, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, writer Fiona Evans took Durham’s Geoff Gray; at Cardiff’s Sherman, Philip Ralph considers Llangollen’s Cheryl James. They were two, of four, army recruits who allegedly committed suicide at Princess Royal Barracks, Deepcut, Surrey between 1995 and 2002.

Quite how is unclear, since both plays demonstrate that a suicidal teenager would have needed to balance a weighty rifle and pull its trigger at more than arm’s-length, accurately, more than once (despite in Gray’s case having shot himself in the head first time).

Maybe it’s unsurprising a governing class which sends troops to war with inadequate body-armour scarcely raises an eyebrow at these suspicious deaths, preferring to shrug collective shoulders and put it down to suicide by youngsters unable to handle army life.

There’s a wearyingly familiar institutional response: denial, followed by abject apology when anything’s proved, with assurances that lessons have been learned, and consequent denials of any further revelations, until somebody reveals more.

But who does the revealing? Individuals who care; both Deepcut plays consist largely of words spoken or written by members of the dead people’s families. And, thanks largely to the example set by Kilburn’s Tricycle Theatre and Artistic Director Nicholas Kent’s development of verbatim accounts of investigative tribunals, theatre provides them with a forum for re-examining the evidence.

It’s hard to believe these deaths were not, at best, assisted suicides, but more likely rough games gone too far (four times?) if not intentional killings. And, of course, a main reason for clamming-up is the sense of institutionally rot.

If this review’s focusing on the subject-matter, well, so does the play – showing both how wrong things can go, and how failures at higher levels threatens both individuals and society’s supposed values.

In considering the more emotionally sustained Geoff Dead I questioned how theatrical presentation can affect audience responses to material. But there’s no doubting that play, and Ralph’s more segmented construction, stocked with overt theatrical moments in Mick Gordon’s production (acted with efficiency and more, especially by Pip Donaghy as Cheryl’s step-father) helps ensure dirty secrets are not easily swept under any institution’s carpet.

Des James: Pip Donaghy.
Doreen James: Janice Cramer.
Brian Cathcart/Lieutenant/Colonel Nigel Gosling: Derek Hutchinson.
Nicholas Blake QC: Simon Molloy.
Frank Swann/Bruce George MP: Robert Willox.
Jonesy: Amy Morgan.

Director: Mick Gordon.
Designer: Igor Vasiljev.
Lighting: Andrew Jones.
Sound: Mike Furness.
Associate director: Christopher Haydon.

2009-10-04 01:21:42