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Fiona Mountford's rating
, Timing issue for This Much is True
By
Fiona Mountford
4 Nov 2009
It’s bad timing for This Much is True that it should come so soon after Kieron Barry’s impressively taut Stockwell, based on the inquest into the de Menezes shooting.
What could have been helped, though, is the bagginess of focus, the way Paul Unwin and Sarah Beck’s piece skitters about without ever really deciding where it wants to go, using fresh interviews here, and transcripts and media coverage there.
The reach is greater than Stockwell’s — de Menezes’s family get a bigger look-in, and there’s news of the Justice4Jean campaign — but the clarity is reduced. If we’re not sure who’s speaking, it’s hard to give weight to the opinion. Still, there’s commitment from the six-strong cast, and particularly commendable character definition from Justine Waddell as the languidly confident Michael Mansfield QC.
True until 21 November (020 7978 7040), www.theatre503.com).
Details are correct at the time of publication - please check with venue before booking.
Reader views (3)
I saw this last night and was completely blown away. It's a wonderful piece of theatre and the closest thing I've seen to a documentary designed for a live audience. The production is incredibly tight and the performances uniformly superb. Yes, there is a lot of information, but it just serves to remind you how much information and misinformation there was to try and absorb at the time. The overall effect is simply one of a nation caught up in the grip of hysteria and the resulting death for which there can never really be justice. I was left feeling just how quickly we forget events like these and wondering if any lessons were really learned. Go see it and make your minds up for yourselves. This is obviously the culmination of a huge amount of research and hard work. Whether someone else makes something based around a similar subject is just not the point. Bad timing? I think that's part of the point ...
- Martin, London, 11/11/2009 23:42
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I saw this play last night and thought it an amazing piece of theatre. It is a real challenge to weave such a complex story and so many different important perspectives into an hour and a half but the writers and cast managed it with style. There was a lot of information to take in but somehow it all made sense and built to a very powerful ending that left me with tears in my eyes.
Fiona Mountford should focus less on what other plays had to offer and take this on its merits. To me and my friends who watched it last night the clever use of props and clear character differentiation made it very clear who was speaking. It is a very powerful production telling a very important story, particularly that of the family and campaign and not just that of the legal aspects.
- Olga, London, 05/11/2009 11:18
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I saw this last night and can't remember the last time I was so moved in the theatre. I'm never usually a cry baby but the complex story hit me like a hammer and I don't think it could have done that had it not been delivered with brutal clarity as well as emotional honesty. I loved the fact it wasn't easy police-bashing and everyone got a voice most especially those close to Jea Charles. An amazing piece of theatre.
- Joe, London, 04/11/2009 15:32
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