Tricycle Theatre
Tweet

Tricycle Investigates War Detainees in Guantanamo

Following last November’s Justifying War, a dramatisation of the Hutton Inquiry into the death of government arms advisor Dr David Kelly (See News, 12 Aug 2003), north London’s Tricycle Theatre (pictured) will continue its theatrical documentary approach to events in the ongoing “war on terror” with a new piece this May examining the plight of the Guantanamo Bay detainees.

Guantanamo – ‘Honor Bound to Defend Freedom’ - based on personal testimony from the families of detainees, as well as statements from lawyers, government spokesman, medical experts and other commentators – will have a limited season at the Tricycle from 24 May to 12 June 2004 (previews from 20 May).

At Camp Delta in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, nine Britons and three British residents – along with more than 600 others, comprising 40 nationalities - have been detained by the US government without charge, trial or access to lawyers since 2001. This past month, on 19 February, five Britons were released, though their fate back in the UK remains uncertain.

The material gathered for Guantanamo – ‘Honor Bound to Defend Freedom’ by Victoria Brittain, ex associate foreign editor for the Guardian, and South African born author Gillian Slovo, pertains to this as well as 14 foreign nationals held in London’s Belmarsh prison, the ‘Guantanamo in our own backyard’, according to Amnesty International. The play’s title derives from the sign above the entrance to Camp Delta.

Guantanamo and Justifying War follows the Tricycle's earlier stagings of the Nuremberg trials, the Scott Arms to Iraq Inquiry, the Hague hearings on the Srebrenica massacre and, most famously, the Stephen Lawrence murder trial. The last, titled The Colour of Justice, toured the country and had a short West End run, in addition to being broadcast on the BBC.

The new piece is directed by Tricycle artistic director Nicolas Kent and Sacha Wares and designed by Miriam Buether with lighting by Johanna Town.

- by Terri Paddock

Related Content