Edward Alderton Theatre

Justifying War:
Scenes from the Hutton Inquiry
by Richard Norton-Taylor

Directed by Mark Campbell

24-31 May 2008 (7 performances)

These edited transcripts focus on the suicide of weapons inspector Dr David Kelly, revealing much of the inner workings of Downing Street, the Ministry of Defence and the BBC. Key witnesses are challenged and questioned on the compilation of the so-called 'dodgy dossier' of Weapons of Mass Destruction, the releasing of Kelly's name into the public domain and the British government's case for war in Iraq...

Cast
Right Hon Lord Hutton	Tony Donnelly
James Dingemans QC	Chris Manning-Perry
Andrew Gilligan	James Turner
Susan Watts	Rebecca Mason
Alastair Campbell	Mark Campbell
James Blitz	Ken Swan
John Clark	Ian Saxton
Gavyn Davies	Clive Madel
Mrs Janice Kelly	Eleanor McEnery
Usher	Roz Betts
Projectionist	Viv Stapleton

Crew
Stage Manager	Catherine Davies
Set Design	Mark Campbell
Set Construction	John Vinnels, Ron Andrews
Set Painting	Mark Campbell
Lighting & Sound	Catherine Davies
Lighting Design & Rigging	Jerry McKeon, Christine McKeon

Previews

Theatre of war

A community theatre will be putting on a play looking at the reasons behind invading Iraq. The Edward Alderton Theatre, Brampton Road, Bexleyheath, is showcasing Justifying War: Scenes from the Hutton Enquiry on Friday until next Sunday.

The play, which looks into Lord Hutton's inquiry about then Radio 4 journalist Andrew Gilligan's allegation that the government 'sexed up' a dossier on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD). The day after Dr David Kelly, the government's chief adviser on Iraq's chemical and biological weapons programme, was named as being the source of the story, he committed suicide in his native Cornwall.

The wide-ranging inquiry, which looked into his death, questioned government ministers, civil servants and revealed as never before the inner workings of the BBC, the Ministry of Defence and Downing Street. Written by Richard Norton-Taylor and directed by Mark Campbell, the play is compiled from edited transcripts from the inquiry. Tickets are Ł6.50 and doors open at 8pm [sic] with no performance on Sunday. Call the box office on 020 8301 5584 for tickets.

Kentish Times | 22 May 2008

Inquiry into bold drama production

An amateur dramatics group tells Kerry Ann Eustice why it is putting on a controversial play about The Hutton Enquiry.

Stepping from a classic Shakespeare to controversial, real-life political drama, it's fair to say, is quite a bold move for the dramatics group at the Edward Alderton Theatre. It is the first time Justifying War: Scenes from the Hutton Inquiry, written by Guardian journalist Richard Norton-Taylor, has been performed outside London and by a local theatre group.

Artistic director Mark Campbell took it on because he was keen to try something completely different. He's certainly achieved that. The moving but formal interview-style of the piece is a far cry from the big cast and pomp of April's Much Ado About Nothing. "The other day I was looking at a story about Cherie Blair's autobiography and there was a headline about her using The Hutton Inquiry to show Tony Blair in a good light. So even now it's having ramifications," said Mark. "It may have been in 2003 but the fact that we went into Iraq on this basis of this report, which was then disproven, and David Kelly was the one who said it was wrong, I still think is very relevant."

Despite the staging potentially being as controversial as the inquiry it details, Mark still feels the piece compiled from the Hutton Inquiry transcripts and evidence will be interesting for audiences. Besides, presenting surprising drama is what Mark says theatre is for. "It's not something we'll necessarily repeat but it's what theatre should be about sometimes," he said. "It's about challenging people's preconceptions and also, what I think is fascinating, every word spoken in it really happened. This is real people talking."

Councillors and MPs from local and central governments have been invited toi see the play but Mark insists it's not solely for politics buffs. "It's not anti-Labour play or a Tory play. It's fascinating as a political piece in general. Anyone with any kind of interest in politics will hopefully get something out of it."

May 24 to May 31, Edward Alderton Theatre, Bexleyheath. Call 020 8301 5584.

Kerry Ann Eustice

News Shopper | 21 May 2008

Review

Clash of the Titans

It is not often that an amateur dramatics company has a break from Alan Ayckbourn in favour of something more daring, writes Kate Mead. But the Edward Alderton Theatre (EAT) in Bexleyheath should be commended for doing just that in their recent production of Justifying War: Scenes from the Hutton Inquiry.

Good intentions aside however, this brave attempt was scuppered by a cast and director that were perhaps too reverent to the text to feel free to dabble in a bit of creativity. Richard Norton-Taylor's documentary play about the inquiry into Dr David Kelly's death was shown in the Tricycle Theatre, London following the success of the similarly transcript-based play Colour of Justice about the murder of Stephen Lawrence. This ilk of play has been continued with the likes of Guantanamo and it is open season for fringe and amateur theatre companies to use as the transcripts have no pesky copyright to worry about.

The play itself gives audiences the opportunity to relive a debate that had politicians, media and the public alike reeling with the implications of spin, lies and the 45-minute claim that justified bombing Iraq. The debate gives no clear conclusions on either the conduct of the press or politicians but throws up some interesting questions about what truth really is. And with such heavyweight material, it takes some balls to put this kind of production on for audiences more familiar to Charles Dickens or Mike Leigh. But to hell with playing it safe if it gets it to the masses!

Director Mark Campbell mercifully cut the play down from 12 witnesses to just six giving evidence to The Right Honourable Lord Hutton (Tony Donnelly), making the running time just under two hours. We heard therefore from Andrew Gilligan (James Turner) and Susan Watts (Rebecca Mason), the journalists at the centre of the scandal, spin doctor Alistair Campbell (Mark Campbell, no relation), James Blitz of the Financial Times (Ken Swan), Wing Commander of the RAF and friend of Dr Kelly John Clark (Ian Saxton), chairman of the BBC Gavyn Davies (Clive Madel) and widow of Dr Kelly Janice Kelly (Eleanor McEnery).

When re-enacted it is clear that the Inquiry (naughtily spelt wrong in EAT's program [sic]) was less about the death of Dr Kelly but more about the war in Iraq and the clashing of Titan-esque egos over politics with plain disregard to the human stuck in the middle.

Though cleverly edited and with some convincing performances by McEnery, Saxton, Turner and Campbell the production itself felt static and strained. Chris Manning-Perry who played the difficult role of James Dingemans QC was clearly reading lines for much of it and Mason seemed keener to say her lines and leave quickly than give away any feeling.

Disappointing though that was, I was more frustrated by an unimaginative approach to the play. A static set with QC and witness facing each other and Lord Hutton squirreled away at the back of the stage made for a monotonous two hours, with the only movement being an awkward usher (Roz Betts) and the exiting and entering of the witnesses. A little lighting, sound or just some movement for artistic and dramatic purposes could have kept the audience focused on some poignant arguments without detracting from what really happened.

In putting a piece of history on stage, there is no harm in being creative in order to get that message across. Rather than entertain and inform, Justifying War was like a replay of a stuffy inquiry, even down to the real-time feel and the one minute's silence - which was profoundly awkward and strained.

Let's be clear here - the theatre is a place to witness a drama unfold, not to relive a moment in history to the letter. As much as I commend the EAT taking on a groundbreaking piece of work and hope they continue to experiment with similar pieces, I do hope that they will be confident in the future to put their own mark on new material. After all, to get the message to the masses, you sometimes need to spin it up a little.

Kate Mead

Kentish Times I 5 June 2008

Feedback

Certainly did enjoy the show...unexpectedly, to be honest! I was disappointed that the cast did not allow us to applaud mainly excellent performances, thereby thanking you for entertaining us. Let me take this opportunity to say 'thank you', and to send my hopes that the rest of the week is well attended.
Nikki Adam

Congratulations - a really enjoyable, thought-provoking evening. Wasn't particularly looking forward to it, but it held my attention and the acting was superb. My friends were really surprised too, so a big slap on the back for you.
Dorothy Holmans

I did enjoy Justifying War, a very well done play about the war. I was actually sitting next to [Councillor Roy Ashmole] and it was he who started the applause at the interval.
Ann Al-Jalili

It was brilliant! Difficult to believe we were in a theatre not a real courtroom.
Pat Devaux

I really, really did enjoy it. I wasn't particularly sure I wanted to see it, but it was great. The guy who played Alastair Campbell was absolutely brilliant!
Joan Lyons

Please pass on my congratulations to the cast and crew of Justifying War. They managed to turn what was potentially a rather worthy piece of reportage into a moving and animated drama. I was impressed.
Ian Long

For the production as a whole, I thought the performances were generally good and although I noticed the reading of scripts throughout, it didn't really spoil the production for me. Mark Campbell did very well (just the slight touch of smarm) and I thought Ken Swan was very good. As for the play itself, well it's not really the sort of thing I would choose to go and see, but I think what you did with the material was very good. And standing for one minute's silence was a great interactive piece of theatre. You really felt you were at the enquiry. So well done overall, a difficult piece well delivered.
Richard Self

The Edward Alderton's production of Justifying War very effectively conveyed the atmosphere of a public enquiry. The setting places the audience in the role almost of a jury at the hearing into the death of Dr David Kelly in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq War, and in the midst of the ensuing recriminations between the Government and the BBC about how the rationale for that war was presented. Despite the familiarity of the material, I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat as each succeeding witness gave his or her evidence.

Playing well-known, perhaps even notorious, figures such as Alastair Campbell can never be easy. In the light of subsequent events, I could not help smiling at Campbell's comment, drawn from the original transcripts of the Hutton Enquiry, that his diary was not for publication. How reliable the rest of his testimony was remained very much for the audience to decide. What struck me was the way that an intensely private man like Dr Kelly was turned very reluctantly into a whistleblower, without ever controlling either how he was reported or presented by the media forces he found himself caught between. Unlike intentional whistleblowers like Clive Ponting, however, the pressure he was then put under - and the deliberate impugning of his professional reputation - led him to escape an intolerable situation in a way that left most of the other protagonists with collateral damage. The essence of drama is human dilemmas. In presenting Dr Kelly's dilemmas by report, with him offstage and already dead, there were some elements of Greek tragedy in this play. It was a fine production and made for an engrossing and thought-provoking evening of theatre.
Cllr Peter Catterall, Bexley Council Cabinet Member for Leisure, Arts and Tourism

My husband and myself came to see Justifying War on Saturday evening and thought it rivetting. The acting from everyone was absolutely amazing and totally believable. Being a fairly recent news story and one that we remember so well, this held our interest throughout. The ending we thought was marvellous and I felt my eyes 'prick' at Eleanor's performance. The Edward Alderton Theatre is a little oasis and I look forward to seeing lots of other productions there.
Diane Carson

Inquiry
The great and good who send
Others' sons to war
And move the pieces round
In ways that most deplore
Are horrified to find
That death is not remote.
There's blood upon their hands
And blame in every quite.
To cover up the truth
They need a docile judge
Who'll reach the stated end
Through layering of fudge.
Lord Hutton is the man
To do the dirty deed,
Demolishing careers,
A whitewash guaranteed.
The family is left
To mourn without redress.
A day's unwanted fame,
A lifetime of distress.