TACTICAL QUESTIONING at the Tricycle Theatre

Nicolas Kent directs the world premiere of TACTICAL QUESTIONING: SCENES FROM THE BAHA MOUSA INQUIRY, edited by Richard Norton-Taylor, with designs by Polly Sullivan.  The production, which examines the British Army’s handling of detainees in Iraq and the death of Baha Mousa in 2003, will run at the Tricycle Theatre from 2nd June until 2nd  July.
 
On 14 September 2003, at the Haitham Hotel in Basra, Iraq, Baha Mousa and nine others were arrested by the British Army as suspected insurgents. Two days later Baha Mousa was dead. A post-mortem examination revealed that he had suffered from asphyxiation and had received at least 93 injuries to his body whilst in the Army’s custody.  In 2008 the Secretary of State for Defence announced a public inquiry into Baha Mousa’s death and the treatment of those detained with him.
(words: Tricycle Theatre)

You need to see (and someone really should televise) Tactical Questioning... a compelling slab of theatrical viewing.
Telegraph ****

This Kilburn powerhouse, daring once more to venture into the dark corners of public life that other venues leave alone, presents another in an admirable line of “tribunal” plays, which boil down notable investigations into palatable stage form... Director Nicolas Kent sensibly keeps bells and whistles far from his strikingly simple production.  The words, in every possible way, speak for themselves.
Evening Standard ****

Rightly, Nicolas Kent’s production keeps a quiet atmosphere and allows drama to emerge... What matters is that the stage remind us of the degradations of war.
Guardian ****

The latest in the Tricycle Theatre’s impressive series of tribunal plays.
Times ****

(Photo: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian)