Bradley Manning play opens in Pembs (From Western Telegraph)

Bradley Manning play opens in Pembs

10:04am Thursday 12th April 2012 in News

A play inspired by one of the most important political and digital stories of our time, and told through the eyes of the former Pembrokeshire schoolboy accused of leaking US military secrets, premiers at Tasker Milward School tonight (Thursday).

Written by Tim Price, and directed by John E McGrath of National Theatre Wales, The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning will explore the ‘formative’ years that the US soldier spent at the Haverfordwest secondary school.

It will also look at the driving force behind the actions of the American soldier, accused of releasing 250,000 secret embassy cables and military logs from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Director John McGrath said: “The play, more than anything else, is asking the question: what might have led a young man like Bradley Manning to do something like that?”

Mr McGrath believes that Manning’s story is also indicative of the actions of the younger generation, and their anti-establishment views.

He said: “A lot of people would say that the information that was leaked in Wikileaks has already changed the world in many ways – just look at the Arab Spring and the Occupy movement.

“Bradley Manning could be seen as a foreman of a generation that has had enough of the way things are currently run.

“And only by going back to where he spent his teenage years can we understand that, and see how the big stories and ideas are rooted in our day to day lives.”

The play weaves in and out of Manning’s life at school, his time in America and his life in the army, through a series of flashbacks and flashforwards.

Mr McGrath added: “A major theme in the play is truth, and when it is right to tell the truth.

“People of all ages will be able to learn something from it, because we can find the answers in our history, to the questions of today.”

The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning will be performed at Tasker Milward School from tonight, April 12th, to Saturday, April 14th at 7.30pm.

For more information and to watch the play through a live stream visit w w w . n a t i o n a l t h e a t r e wales.org/bradleymanning.