Review: LANDSCAPE WITH WEAPON by Joe Penhall at The Cockpit 13 Sept – 18 Sept 2022

‘The nature of good and evil, over curry and rice’ ★★★★

Ned is a weapons designer whose invention allows drones to seek out and kill enemies without the need for boots on the ground. Dan is horrified by what his brother has done and fights with Ned regularly, including a particularly icky food fight with curry and rice. Ned’s naivety and arrogance makes him think he can control what happens with his invention, but when he refuses to sign away ownership to the Ministry of Defence, things turn dark. British Intelligence assigns an officer called Brooks to manipulate and bully Ned into handing over his creation to the MoD, which leaves Ned spiralling into a mental health crisis.

At its heart, this play is a debate about good and evil. Will Ned’s invention be a deterrent to war as he intends, or will the MoD put profit over morals and sell the weapon to unsavoury regimes who want to crush dissent? The play is also about the powerlessness of the individual in the face of a corrupt, avaricious though outwardly benign state.

Malcolm Jeffries expertly navigates the volatile character of Brooks who spins moment to moment from charm to threat to rage and back again. James Robinson’s excited puppy of a brother brings light to an otherwise unremittingly dark play.

Jason Moore’s clever direction brought energy to what could have been a very static play. Ian Nicholson’s set was ingenious, with very little other than a floor design made up of technical drawings which, impressively, he drew by hand. Jonny Danciger’s sound design brought us straight into the world of menace that set the tone for the whole show.

A few cuts to the text would have enhanced the chilling nature of the tale. The casually misogynistic references to Dan and Ned’s respective spouses may hardly have been noticed when the play was first written but were a bit irritating to a modern ear. Overall, this is an important play which has strong messages for the world today ravaged by conflict, where ordinary lives are destroyed by the machinations of regimes led by leaders whose desire for power overrides any sense of good and evil.

This production was definitely worthy of a longer run than the week it had at The Cockpit.

Review: LANDSCAPE WITH WEAPON by Joe Penhall at The Cockpit 13 Sept – 18 Sept 2022

Box Office: https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/landscape_with_weapon

Company: OnBook Theatre

Performers: James Robinson, Danny Szam, Suzy Bloom, Malcolm Jeffries

Director and Producer: Jason Moore

Producer, set and costume design: Ian Nicholson

Lighting and sound design: Jonny Danciger

Reviewer: Srabani Sen

Srabani is a theatre actress and playwright. As an actress she has performed at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse (The Globe), the Arcola, Southwark Playhouse, The Pleasance and numerous fringe theatres, in a range of roles from Shakespeare to plays by new and emerging writers. She has written several short and full-length plays. Her play Vijaya was shortlisted for the Sultan Padamsee Playwrights Award in Mumbai.