A young Muslim mother has been arrested by the authorities on the Turkish / Syrian border and been detained under the terrorism act. She is now in England and still detained under police investigation. The play centres around just three key players in this tense drama; the woman herself, her lawyer, and the police officer detailed to interview her.
Robert Pegg's script is very realistic and shows the true machinations of the justice system in this country. A tight-lipped suspect who appears to know more than she is saying, being advised by a world-weary, ageing lawyer to keep saying 'no comment' until the police actually charge her with anything, and the police officer whose interview technique ping-pongs between 'good cop' and 'bad cop' with alarming ease. Her relationship with the lawyer during interview completely frosty, and yet when they meet at the coffee machine they are congenial and as open as the system allows them to be with each other.
Directed by Mike Heath the pace is really quite slow throughout, and the 'feel' of the play is almost like the theatrical version of watching a Wallander episode. Much time is allowed for the audience to absorb what is happening and see nuances of body language and facial expressions more clearly. I like this technique for such a drama - it makes for rather compelling viewing, especially if the three cast members were well chosen actors / actresses which they were. Where the directing falls down however is in the scene changes. These too are handled with the same laissez-faire take-your-time attitude. The set in fact doesn't change at all - just our suspension of disbelief as to the exact location (the interview room, an ante-room, the coffee machine). The scene changes therefore took far to long to execute - a simple 'dim and up' would have been preferable; and I didn't like the choice of music made to accompany these changes. Different music each time, none of which felt appropriate. It was too loud, too pop-ish, too brash.
The play was performed with a short interval between two sections of about 45 minutes each half. It would have been tighter and more suspenseful had the interval had been omitted and performed straight through. We didn't need the interval, and neither did the play in terms of scene or theme changes. The play centres around the Muslim lady suspect and during the course of the play we learn quite a bit about her situation and her background. If the play were to be lengthened into a two act play [it is a good one act play as it stands] then it would be nice to learn something of the back stories of both the lawyer and the police officer. In both instances the script gives us a tiny tantalising glimpse, but never develops these.
Zoe Iqbal played Rehana, a young mother denied access to her son and seemingly unaware of what has happened to her husband, with a certain arrogant assuredness which started gently and inconspicuously building to a very strong and surprisingly passionate denouement. Ian Curley is the lawyer assigned to her, and his almost detached interest [an interesting oxymoron] is well-placed and although the character doesn't really have any development within the play, Curley found a nice pace within minimal changes of dynamic. The play's dynamics changed considerably however with the entrance of Leni Murphy, playing the interrogating officer. One moment highly professional, the next inwardly flustered; one moment soothing and coaxing, the next knife-edge sharp and caustic; using all her wiles to elicit the information she needed, without success.
The play ends (don't worry, I won't give anything away) on a question mark, and I liked that. Compelling and thought-provoking throughout, the audience are challenged to question just as much as - or maybe even more than - the police officer.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 14/11/18
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