Initial response to 13 by Mike Bartlett

After the first reading of the play with  the cast, I felt like it was extremely intelligently written. The play discusses subject matter which many members of the public and i'm sure members of our cast, may not fully understand. For example the middle east conflict, in particular Iran. This will be a challenge for all of us to research and try and understand. Its challenging because we are so far removed from Iran as a place but also from the Governments involvement within it and throughout the middle east. Personally, although I listen to the news and try to have a wider understanding of the world around me, i am still frequently challenged by the complexity of the issues involving our overseas conflicts. Another challenge behind this is finding reliable information. So many sources from the media are biased and not to be trusted. This means we must be careful when conducting research on the issue that facts are verified and that we can identify opinion from the facts.

I think the play also showed well rounded opinions and characters that you see surrounding the turmoil of war. We see inside the government, the radical 'do gooder' who wants a change but doesn't quite know how to achieve it, and the every day people who get affected by the issues. One of the most interesting moments of the play for me was the ending monologue from the perspective of the soldier. It allowed us to see into the reality of the war, where the fighting happens, as opposed to our often distant 'out of sight, out of mind' viewpoint we can often get in Britain because all our wars and combat currently are fought overseas. 

The play has left a lot open for both the director and the actors to interpret. There is space for ensemble work, and physical theatre but also for moments of silence. The set is also open, apart form the script states it must be performed with a circle. Before the read through today we talked through initial ideas behind the set, with our set designer for the production in the room. Here are some scribbles of possible stage ideas: