Cat's-Paw

By William Mastrosimone.

Victor X heads the environmental action group "Earth Now!" Although he would technically be considered to be running a "Terrorist Cell", he doesn't see it that way. He tricks one of his own into unwittingly becoming a suicide bomber, in front of a major U.S. government building, killing 11 senators. The play starts just as the group has kidnapped a journalist so as to get their manifesto on clean water published and to draw attention to the poisoning of the Earth's water supply. This play is about radicalisation. What does it take for an individual who is passionate about an issue to suddenly become radicalised to the point where they are willing to kill people in order to get their message or ideology heard. When does a right cause go wrong? With the world's water supply in real danger, who pulls the plug on industrial polluters - and how? Is a bad action still wrong if it's for the greater good? And who decides? Cat's-Paw is a major work centring on the story of a group of radicalised activists out to "shock and awe" the world into stopping the polluters of the Earth's fresh water - just three per cent of its total.

In an added programme there will be a pre-show screening of a previously unseen interview with kidnapped BBC reporter Alan Johnston.

The 40-minute interview was conducted just days after his release on July 4th last year and is an incredibly candid and moving insight the mental strain of being a hostage in Gaza for 3 months. This interview has never been broadcast or seen by anyone but the cast of the show.

In the second part of the pre-programme there will be a screening of the 7-minute short film, SUICYCLE: A LIFE FOR A STORY. This explores the use of suicide bombing as a means of protest.

Both of these screenings relate directly to the subject matter of the play, which runs directly after. Total running time for the evening is 2 hrs 15 minutes, which includes a 15-minute interval.