The First Domino
by Jonathan Cash
With Toby Jones (Infamous, Elizabeth I, Frost/Nixon, Harry Potter) and Carlton Hobbs Award-winner, Joseph Kloska.
Broadcast Sat 9 Oct 2010, Radio 3
A programme from The Wire
160/44; 53.5 MB; sound quality excellent
On Friday 30th April at 6.37pm 1999, a nail bomb exploded in The Admiral Duncan pub in Soho, London. Playwright Jonathan Cash was standing a few feet away from the device as it exploded.
The First Domino is a response to that event. A fiction inspired by that horrific bombing and other attacks like it, the play is woven around a series of conversations between a prisoner and a psychiatrist. It is a study of prejudice, extremism and marginalisation, as well as an examination of the human urge towards violence and revenge.
An uncompromising and at times shocking script, it is full of dark comedy too. The playwright notes: "When people first meet me, I'm not expected to have a sense of humour. You seem to be defined by what's happened to you."
In a radio version re-imagined and rewritten for The Wire, this play has been developed from Jonathan's stage version, which won the Award for Best Theatrical Performance at the Brighton Fringe Festival in 2009.
Replies