Three in the Back, Two in the Head

Synopsis

A searing examination of American military policy . The play pits personal morality against the ambitions of the state. As President Bush ploughs yet more funds into a 'Star Wars' missile system to defend against 'the axis of evil', Jason Sherman raises urgent questions about America's attempts to police the world.

Our Review:

15 November 2005

Canadian playwright Jason Sherman was inspired to pen Three in the Back, Two in the Head after reading obituaries of fellow Canadian Gerald Bull, a weapons engineer whose work for the Iraqi government on the Project Babylon “supergun” is thought to have been a key factor in his murder in Brussels in March 1990. Watching Adam Barnard’s polished Orange Tree production, however, it’s impossible not to be reminded of David Kelly, another weapons expert whose involvement with Iraq also led to him meeting his maker in tragic and suspicious circumstances.

Sherman’s version of Bull is Donald Jackson (Rod Beacham), a weapons scientist for America’s defence programme who has been found outside a church with three bullets in his back and two more in his skull. His son Paul (Qarie Marshall) wants answers so tracks down John Doyle (Kevin Doyle), a CIA agent with whom his dad had had dealings before his death. The Langley man is anything but sympathetic: “He...

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