How Many Miles to Basra?

USER (21Oct06): Ursula is a radio journalist in war-torn Iraq, attached to a squad of four British troops manning a vehicle checkpoint. When a vehicle is stopped at the checkpoint and the occupants are found to be in possession of a large amount of cash suspicions are raised and and tension quickly mounts between the troops and the Iraqi's. Whilst squad leader Stewart is checking up on the money, the latent hostility boils over when one of the Iraqi's makes a suspicious move and the troops open fire. The Iraqi's are killed, although one survives long enough to relate that the cash was intended to be ransom money for his wife and child who are being held hostage by a local sheikh. Stewart convinces the squad that the right thing to do to atone in some small measure for the tragic event is to deliver the ransom money themselves to save the man's wife and child, they at least owe him that much. And so the squad embark on a dangerous journey in a mad race against time to get to the rendesvous point, deep in the desert. Ursula, cast adrift from the squad, hires an Iraqi guide to follow them. The tragic events then continue to unfold as further encounters result in yet more bloodshed and their humanity is put to the ultimate test. Will they succeed in their mission, or even survive it? And how will the world view their actions? The story is told in flashback as Ursula meets with her boss trying to convince him to release the true story behind the events of that tragic mission rather than the MOD's whitewashed version (which denies the initial killings). We are then taken back into the desert to witness the actual events that she relates. What follows is an examination of the moral dilemma facing all soldiers sent to fight in a foreign country, how to reconcile doing your job with doing the right thing when the two are diametrically opposed. It is an anti-war story which illustrates that events that occur in the middle of a conflict are seldom black and white, good or evil, but a confused admixture of both. The troops, whilst initially having little regard for the Iraqi's, are not evil, afraid and under pressure they overeact to the situation in which they find themselves with tragic consequences. The production has an authentic look and feel with the stage laid out to resemble a desertscape littered with wreckage. Moveable screens suspended from the rafters portray the shattered remains of buildings and a white louvred cloth backdrop provides a projection screen whilst it's constant rippling gives a feel of the desert wind. The 'soldiers' looked especially real in their dusty uniforms and scuffed desert boots (except one, whose boots were standard issue, desert equipment being in short supply). Being originally written for radio, this is a somewhat wordy play, but not without moments of hard-hitting action (be prepared for sudden loud bangs). And, whilst it relates a story that is more than a little harrowing, it is not without moments of rough humour either. D. Gillan (www.stagebeauty.net)

USER (21Oct06): Ursula is a radio journalist in war-torn Iraq, attached to a squad of four British troops manning a vehicle checkpoint. When a vehicle is stopped at the checkpoint and the occupants are found to be in possession of a large amount of cash suspicions are raised and and tension quickly mounts between the troops and the Iraqi's. Whilst squad leader Stewart is checking up on the money, the latent hostility boils over when one of the Iraqi's makes a suspicious move and the troops open fire. The Iraqi's are killed, although one survives long enough to relate that the cash was intended to be ransom money for his wife and child who are being held hostage by a local sheikh. Stewart convinces the squad that the right thing to do to atone in some small measure for the tragic event is to deliver the ransom money themselves to save the man's wife and child, they at least owe him that much. And so the squad embark on a dangerous journey in a mad race against time to get to the rendesvous point, deep in the desert. Ursula, cast adrift from the squad, hires an Iraqi guide to follow them. The tragic events then continue to unfold as further encounters result in yet more bloodshed and their humanity is put to the ultimate test. Will they succeed in their mission, or even survive it? And how will the world view their actions? The story is told in flashback as Ursula meets with her boss trying to convince him to release the true story behind the events of that tragic mission rather than the MOD's whitewashed version (which denies the initial killings). We are then taken back into the desert to witness the actual events that she relates. What follows is an examination of the moral dilemma facing all soldiers sent to fight in a foreign country, how to reconcile doing your job with doing the right thing when the two are diametrically opposed. It is an anti-war story which illustrates that events that occur in the middle of a conflict are seldom black and white, good or evil, but a confused admixture of both. The troops, whilst initially having little regard for the Iraqi's, are not evil, afraid and under pressure they overeact to the situation in which they find themselves with tragic consequences. The production has an authentic look and feel with the stage laid out to resemble a desertscape littered with wreckage. Moveable screens suspended from the rafters portray the shattered remains of buildings and a white louvred cloth backdrop provides a projection screen whilst it's constant rippling gives a feel of the desert wind. The 'soldiers' looked especially real in their dusty uniforms and scuffed desert boots (except one, whose boots were standard issue, desert equipment being in short supply). Being originally written for radio, this is a somewhat wordy play, but not without moments of hard-hitting action (be prepared for sudden loud bangs). And, whilst it relates a story that is more than a little harrowing, it is not without moments of rough humour either.