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The Review - THEATRE by SIMON WROE
Published: 19 March 2009

Some tragedies cut so deep they won’t go away

DEEP CUT
Tricycle Theatre

BETWEEN 1995 and 2002, four soldiers died in suspicious circumstances at the Deepcut Barracks in Surrey.
Rumours of institutional bullying and a camp out of control were dismissed by a judicial report into the deaths and earlier this year Deepcut, a name tarred with scandal and bad blood, was closed.
It is now scheduled to be demolished, and with it any evidence as to how these young people really lost their lives. End of story? Wrong.
The haunting testimonies of the parents, colleagues and crime scene investigators continue to reverberate in Philip Ralph’s intelligently compiled verbatim play, long after the press, police and Ministry of Defence turned their backs on the case.
Interviews conducted with Des and Doreen James, the parents of Private Cheryl James, are juxtaposed with the dry findings of the behind-closed-doors investigation into the deaths by Nicholas Blake QC and the jocular reminiscences of Cheryl’s fellow squaddie (Rhian Blithe).
The official line is that all four soldiers committed suicide by machine gun; the evidence, sparse as it is after four botched investigations by Surrey Police, raises more questions than it answers.
Why were the inquests into each death wrapped up so quickly? Why was a public inquiry into the deaths never approved?
Keenly aware of becoming turgid with facts and forensics, Deep Cut maintains a verve and pace that holds audience interest, almost making them a de facto jury.
As their living room gets swallowed by paperwork and case files, Ciaran MacIntyre and Rhian Morgan deliver a pair of excellent, sensitive performances as the parents who cannot understand why the truth is so hard to come by.
This important, urgent piece of theatre may not force a public inquiry, but Deep Cut ensures this unexplained tragedy will not be forgotten.
Until April 4
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