Cuckooed

It's difficult to know on what basis to judge Mark Thomas' one-man play. As a vehicle for his cry of rage about the infiltration of the tiny Campaign Against Arms Trade by the goliath that is BAE Systems, it works. It's a hugely engaging piece: the verve and swagger of Thomas' conversational, humourist's delivery works well to sustain interest, and he employs some neat tricks to keep things shifting along. Thomas' writing is predictably tight, with delightful moments of bathos found in the ground between the high ideals and the scrappy drudgery of an activist's existence. There's barely a move or line which hasn't been pored over to keep it as interesting as possible.

But as a piece of theatre, one can't help but feel this is all a little superficial: a bright bag of tricks and devices to sustain interest. There's little engagement with the dramatic form; it tells us little beyond the issues directly discussed. The preoccupation with keeping it snappy also leads Thomas down some questionable paths. Too frequently, he goes after cheap laughs, painting those in the arms industry in primary, cartoon colours. Take, for instance, the BAE arms traders who need the day off work after their bus was hijacked by protestors. To disregard their fears in order to bag laughs diminishes their humanity, and ours.

In essence, Cuckooed feels a lot like a well-written and brilliantly researched newspaper feature, delivered live. It's not a masterclass in stagecraft. But it's reasonable to wonder whether this actually matters when dealing with issues so fundamental to the functioning of our democracy. Perhaps it'll matter when everyone has seen this, and got angry.