Mark Thomas is a stand-up comedian, but this is not a stand-up routine. Yes, Thomas uses all his skills for working an audience and he incorporates plenty of humour, but the story that he is telling is serious and even alarming. It is a story of friendship and betrayal that leads into a political rant over corporate malpractices. Thomas is an active member of CAAT (Campaign Against the Arms Trade) and, using video interviews with others involved, he tells of protests and demonstrations over a period of several years against arms dealers and of the underhand tactics used by those dealers to infiltrate the activists. The most affecting aspect of the show is Thomas’s descriptions of others involved with him, particularly an individual known only as Martin. This show is gripping, informative, relevant and moving.
Performance date: 14 August 2014
The Beast's Pen 