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2009

IsoProductions

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I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

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Play/Drama

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In a remote spot near the Iranian border, a British military base is sending covert radio broadcasts of disinformation and demoralising sentiment to the citizens of Tehran. The team are mostly civilian journalists, researchers and technicians. One of the brilliant cuts of the play is having them talk breezily about picturing their core demographic; working virally through text and email campaigns; tapping into the public sensibility - this all sounds scarily plausible. In a world so media-dominated and marketing-obsessed, it seems only natural that the same techniques should be being wielded to "win hearts and minds" in a war effort. The assumption though that people's deepest convictions - their patriotic loyalty for instance - are there for the manipulation, eventually backfires gruesomely. All the teams thrusts are aimed at the weakest points of the heart. An "Iranian housewife" reminds soldiers on the front of their home life during peacetime, to make them yearn for the end of the hostilities. (To this end she also teaches them phonetically the English phrases they will need to surrender - from "I give up" to "God save the queen".) A "loyal Iranian citizen" constantly asserts his allegiance to the government - but gradually expresses reluctant doubts about their motivations. It is subtle enough that you actually can imagine it slipping under people's guard. But the team are not broad caricatures in the way that Mamet intends his characters to be. The centrepoint is Zahra, the twenty-five year old new recruit whose parents were driven out of Iran to London in the revolution of the late 70s. She has a somewhat romantic feeling for her land of origin, a desire to see it "liberated" but most of all to see the government pay for her parents' suffering. Another with a personal motivation is Ali, the gentle, middle-aged Iranian political exile with whom Zahra forms an instant bond. Then there's Rosie, detached and ambitious information-gatherer, who speaks matter-of-factly about news gained through interrogation, Lee, the straightforwardly blokey civilian techie, and Roy, fanatical head of the operation, a former journalist on a seemingly personal crusade against the Iranian regime.
- Corinne Salisbury , British Theatre Guide

Peterborough's Cathedral Square

29 Nov 2009

Eastern Angles

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I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

short play

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If you want a reminder why Peterborough has such rich cultural diversity and historical significance then make sure you get to the Eastern Angles plays cropping up inside city venues.And, if you've been lucky enough to see them already, then you'll know what I mean when I call them short, sharp and witty insights into the city we know and love.The first is based on the Guildhall emblem coming to life. The Lion and Unicorn reveal all to Edie (a girl who has climbed onto the building's roof after a topsy-turvy night out) about Cathedral Square's bustling life.The imperious Lion (Babajide Fado) is determined to find out how long they've been up there holding the shield, and the sprightly unicorn (Rachael Barrington) wants to discover just what humans do on a night out. It includes many other references to the city - the Posh scarf, football chants, bars, music and clubs - it's clear a lot of research was done to ensure the whole audience can relate to it - no matter what age you are.
- Peterborough Today website

2007

Weaver Hughes Ensemble

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I don't think the play has been published but you could try abebooks.com
or the playwright direct where their email is shown at the top of the page

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Play/Drama

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the six women who shared acid guru Timothy Leary's life. What we get is not Leary the public figure, but the private man. In which capacity he clearly left something to be desired.
- Jonathan Gibbs, Time Out London