The civil war is over. The country is trying to make the peace. But there is the little problem of the war criminals, rounded up by the new regime and locked in the prison. The people want blood, international organisations are demanding a stay of execution, and the government is trying to prove its administrative and moral credentials to would-be international investors as their country's infrastructure collapses. Enter Kate, an ordinary woman who has just discovered that her late husband was a perpetrator of atrocities. Kate wants to understand; the government wants to use her.
This is the starting point of Zinnie Harris's new play, the last in a trilogy examining the transforming effects of war. It could not be more timely. A knotty, ambitious work, it is certainly a mouthful as its grapples fearlessly with the fallout of conflict: we see personal relationships buffeted by history, and individual morality manipulated by government spin.
Dominic Hill's production elicits some fine performances, particularly from Geraldine Alexander as Kate, a woman whose eyes have been so opened that she can no longer sleep; and Darrell D'Silva as the prime minister, who falls victim to his own administration's spin. It is a pity, however, that Hill did not bring more of a stern editorial eye to the script. For all its many virtues, there is a tendency to ramble and a frequent insistence on saying the obvious. Inside this good play is a great one trying to get out.
