Wanted Dead or Alive

Wanted Dead or Alive
Etcetera Theatre , London

Alan Fentiman

In Wanted Dead or Alive, writer and performer Andrew Dallmeyer presents us with a powerful piece of political theatre in response to the events of 11 September. His one man show features, 'the world's most wanted man dressed as the world's most loved', placing Osama bin Laden in a Florida shopping mall disguised as Santa Claus. Ho! Ho! Ho!

The concept is captivating, and through an engaging and insightful performance Dallmeyer questions the morality of consumerised Christianity, Islamic extremism, Western democracy and American foreign
policy. In short, he is asking who has the right to write the world's rules. Dallmeyer is careful not to take specific sides on such a contentious issue. But by skillfully switching between his sanitised Santa (discussing Bob the Builder) and bitter bin Laden (listing countries invaded by America since the Second World War) he makes it harder to tolerate the superficiality of the West and encourages you begin to
understand the emergence of Al-Quaeda.

Although at times the barrage of facts and statistics can mean the play verges on becoming a lecture, they place a painful punch that leaves you consciously bruised. My only concern about this play was consolidated when I was leaving the theatre: I overheard a man in front of me ask, 'Why is he telling this to intelligent people?'. Whether this man was intelligent I had no time to tell, but he had a point. As
thought provoking and persuasive as this piece of theatre is, whether it will be seen by those who aren't already convinced or 'intelligent' enough to contest the dubious moral standards of the West could be in
question.

As Dallmeyer observes in his Florida grotto, 'they'll never catch me here'. I only hope his opponents do, because this piece presents the West in as contemptible a light as those that ally with bin Laden, and raises important questions about what constitutes the 'axis of evil'.