Veteran Kiwi playwright Stuart Hoar has crafted a stimulating drama on New Zealand's involvement in the maelstrom of Middle Eastern politics. Along the way he scatters whimsical and erudite musings on feminist theory, metaphysical poetry and the unresolved clash between liberal tolerance and terrorist violence.
It's a heady mixture that director Katie Wolfe brings together in a taut, engaging and often amusing 90 minutes.
The scene changes are a triumph of theatrical design with the action swinging seamlessly from a gun-point rendezvous in the Syrian dessert, to a nondescript venue at the Auckland Writer's Festival and onto Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas.
John Verryt's minimalist set establishes a sweeping panorama for Harley Campbell's superb video projections which are neatly enhanced by Sean Lynch's sound effects.
The characters are multi-layered personalities and much of the drama comes from sudden revelations that people are far more complex that they seem. A terrific cast do a fine job of reconciling character traits that appear impossibly conflicted on paper.
