Tactical Questioning
Thu 2 Jun 2011 – Sat 2 Jul 2011
Scenes from the Baha Mousa Inquiry
‘A Greek tragedy set in Basra and played out in Whitehall’ The Guardian
‘Shame of war in shocking clarity. Maybe you know something about the case, maybe you don’t. Maybe you were pro the war, maybe anti. In any event, you need to see Tactical Questioning’
‘The latest in the Tricycle Theatre’s impressive series of tribunal plays… a shocking tale of administrative failure, buck-passing and moral inadequacy.’
‘Yet again, the undauntable Richard Norton-Taylor has edited months of trial into 100 minutes of chilling yet compelling drama.’Evening Standard
‘The Tricycle’s ‘tribunal’ dramas… are rightly renowned‘
‘Nicolas Kent’s immaculate production… at times feels perversely like a thriller’
Click on newspaper titles above to read the full reviews.
Click here to go behind the scenes with a special film made by Media Sponsor The Guardian.
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.
Tactical Questioning brings together scenes from the Public inquiry which examined the shocking events that took place over those two days of detention, and the British Army’s policies towards the treatment of detainees.
This production comes after the final evidence has been heard, and before the Baha Mousa Inquiry reports this autumn.
Cast includes Alan Parnaby, Thomas Wheatley, Lewis Alsamari, Khalid Laith, Daniel Rabin, Rick Warden, Luke Harris, Mark Stobbart, Christopher Fox, Dean Ashton, Rick Warden, David Michaels, Simon Rouse, Richard Mark, Kate Marlais and Param Sandhu.
Creatives include Polly Sullivan (Designer), Charlie Hayday (Lighting Designer) and Ed Borgnis (Sound Designer).
Post-Performance Discussions
Monday 6 June
Panelists include:
Jon Snow, journalist and presenter of Channel 4 News
Phil Shiner, the solicitor who acted for the family of Baha Mousa at the Inquiry
Tim Owen QC, barrister representing Cpl Donald Payne at the court martial proceedings
Thursday 9 June
Panelists include:
Clive Baldwin, Senior Legal Advisor for Human Rights Watch since 2007
Nicolas Kent, Director of TACTICAL QUESTIONING
Richard Norton Taylor, Editor of TACTICAL QUESTIONING
Thursday 16 June
Panelists include:
Ian Cobain, senior reporter for the Guardian
Nicolas Kent, Director of TACTICAL QUESTIONING
Richard Norton Taylor, Editor of TACTICAL QUESTIONING
Thursday 23 June
Panelists include:
Haifa Zangana, Women Solidarity for Independent and Unifid Iraq
Sami Ramadani, born in Iraq; senior lecturer in Sociology; writes on Iraq
Professor Sir Nigel Rodley, human rights lawyer
Panel discussion hosted by REDRESS human rights organisation, helping torture survivors obtain justice and reparation
Panelists include:
Philippe Sands QC, Barrister, Professor of International Law at UCL and author of Torture Team