An emotionally compelling drama that explores love, betrayal, secrets and lies and exposes the brutality of a police policy that used any means necessary to undermine political protest.
Award-winning writer Kefi Chadwick's previous full-length plays include The Deal (Nightingale Theatre, New Writing South), Below Zero (London and regional tour, Proteus Theatre), The Wedding Present (regional tour, Proteus Theatre), Clamshell Boy (London and regional tour, Intrepid Theatre) and Mathematics of the Heart (Brighton Fringe Festival and Theatre503, London). Her short film Cregan was screened in competition internationally, winning second prize at Waterford Film Festival and the New York Film Festival Audience Choice. It was also selected by BBC Film Network. Her prose works have been published in the UK and USA, and appeared on BBC Radio 4.
A poignant and tender story . . . as funny as it was moving
*Sunday Times on "Mathematics of the Heart"*
[Achieves] a balance between brittle humour and broody
thoughtfulness
*The Times on "Mathematics of the Heart"*
Brims with vitality and acuity, resulting in a pleasing and
pertinent play about the nature of rivalry and relationships
*Stage on "Mathematics of the Heart"*
The case of police spies forming sexual relationships with
political activists has been so well documented . . . that it is
fair to ask what a dramatist can add. In the case of Kefi Chadwick,
who has written this fascinating play, she brings a vivid picture
of the mutual destructiveness of fraudulent affairs, but also an
awareness that collective action can lead to public change. [...]
The virtue of the play is that it links private and public worlds.
Through the story of Mel and Dave, it explores the difficulty of
faking a long-term relationship without a genuine sense of
entanglement. [...] what is heartening about Chadwick's play is
that it reminds you of past wrongs while showing that women have
the power to take present action.
*Guardian*
bold and insightful . . . Chadwick's play remains powerful,
political stuff . . . a true-life horror story in which individuals
count for nothing and everyone is expendable.
*Stage*
Kefi Chadwick's text is excellent . . . Anyone hoping for a
one-sided evening of left-wing agitprop would have trudged home
disappointed. It is altogether more complex and interesting than
that. And it manages to end on an . . . optimistic note.
*Nottingham Post*
Any Means Necessary is a fascinating play that looks at events
where the audience are likely to know the ending and the corrupt
motivations of the police. Yet we still sit as onlookers
breathlessly observing the lies unfolding and they are told with
such conviction that our sympathies find it difficult to know who
to side with.
*Big Issue*
Chadwick's play seeks to demonstrate the scale of the betrayal of
ordinary women by a corrupt police institution. . . . The dynamics
of the protesters ring true, the warmth of their friendships
compensating for some occasional artificial speechifying . . .
offers an important, emotive call for action by demonstrating the
scale of the betrayal perpetuated on activists and exposing the
belligerent callousness of the police towards those affected. It
painstakingly captures the insidiousness of a lie that sullies
everything it touches and destroys the ability to trust. . . . [Any
Means Necessary] establishes a platform which, one hopes, will
enable many more victims to speak about their experiences and seek
justice, and, crucially, prevent this happening again.
*Exeunt*
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
