Showing @ Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh until Sun 24 Aug @ times vary
‘Why do good people do bad things?’ is the question at the heart of David Leddy’s Horizontal Collaboration. Justifying violent acts in order to move towards greater hope of peace is a grey area, and one continually questioned by events in Gaza and Ukraine at the moment. Performed daily by new actors, four UN lawyers present tribunal transcripts from an inquiry surrounding warlord widow Judith K and her tumultuous and ambiguous fight for her people and for peace.
One table, four laptops, eight lamps and four actors fill the stage and as the tribunal continues and the story revealed, lights are switched off until eventually the audience are in darkness. With themes of love, sex, feminism, human rights and war, the content is dense and itself engaging, however the format is static and dry. The key questions it asks are potent, timely and provocative: is peace realistically achievable? And if so, in whom can we find hope?
Horizontal Collaboration is presented as part of a double bill with City of the Blind, a downloadable drama for tablet or smart phone.