Guantanamo
New Ambassadors Theatre, London

Rhona Foulis

The reviews had all been exceptional; the show was already a box-office success; so, perhaps I arrived at the New Ambassadors Theatre with the unfair expectation of being utterly amazed.

I wasn't, and began to wonder whether people had felt an obligation to be impressed by Guantanamo as a seal of support for the prisoners. Doubtless, it is an important play of our times, and even more extraordinary for its mainstream, commercial exposure. But somehow it didn't quite pack the anticipated punch.

The style is personal, the tone, still. Characters - relatives of the prisoners and detainees themselves - speak directly out to the audience, not as a helpless appeal, but to relate to us their absolute ordinariness. It is a play about people and certainly invokes a spirit of humanity. Yet, the lengthy monologues are delivered too much in a monotone to grip the audience from the outset.

As the play progresses, more and more characters emerged to share their own testimonies. The strength of this device was in offering us different perspectives on the political question of 'terror': victims, prisoners, relatives, analysts, lawyers and politicians all have their say. In this way, Guantanamo refuses to present a piece of glib propaganda; the political issues and personal ramifications are far more complex than that. However, with so much information to digest and so many characters to focus on, the docudrama somehow lacks the clarity to hit us with the full force of Guantanamo Bay's undeniable gravity.

Where the play achieves tremendous impact is through its stylistic resistance to closure. In the interval, prisoners at the stage's effective set of Camp Delta carry on with their daily lives, praying and washing, as spectators self-consciously scoff ice-creams. At the very end, a frail and mentally ill prisoner (whom UK lawyers are currently trying to release) curls up on his bunk, turning his back to us. Such moments served to remind us that the sheer living hell of these prisoners does not end when the curtain closes and we return home to cosy beds.

With only occasional poignancy, the play fails to do full justice to its subjects. However, if nothing else, Guantanamo earns its plaudits in raising our political consciousness about a human tragedy to which our government would otherwise blind us.

Run over.