Palace of the End

Synopsis

A female American soldier facing a court-martial for torture and prisoner abuse, a British former UN Weapons Inspector exposed as a source for a BBC journalist, and an Iraqi woman pursued by Saddam Hussein's secret police, each wrestle with the truth in Judith Thompson's urgent, hard-hitting and devastating play.

Our Review:

Jo Caird - 30 October 2010

Palace of the End, named for Saddam Hussein's torture chamber-filled palace, brings together three unrelated individuals touched by the war in Iraq. We meet the US soldier who gained worldwide infamy after she was photographed smiling and giving the thumbs-up next to a naked Iraqi detainee at Abu Ghraib prison (Jade Williams); Dr David Kelly, the British scientist who killed himself following leaking the truth about the threat of Iraq’s WMD capabilities (Robin Soans); and the widow of the head of the Iraqi communist party (Imogen Smith) who underwent torture under Saddam Hussein’s rule.

Aside from a distractingly strange West Virginia accent from Williams, the cast do a fine job with a script that is too reliant on facts to ever be truly dramatic. Palace of the End may have won the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award at the Edinburgh Fringe 2009 for its engaging human rights message, but playwright Judith Thompson’s c...

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Latest User Review

ATurnbull - 3 November 2010:

This production is superb. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves brilliant theatre, thought-provoking writing, and outstanding performances by a cast including the ever-watchable Robin Soans. One of the unmissable plays of the year for me, and much less heavy-going than this review might suggest. See Michael Billington's excellent review in the Guardian for an opinion I more readily agree with!...

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