The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning

The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning dramatises the life of the 24-year old US soldier accused of releasing 250,000 secret embassy cables and military logs from the Iraq and Afghan wars.

After nearly two years in prison without charge, Manning faces a court martial, accused of crimes that could mean life in prison. But just a few years ago, they were a teenager in west Wales. How did this happen? And who is responsible for their radicalisation?

National Theatre Wales 2012 production, for which Tim Price won the inaugural James Tait Black prize for Drama, was sent to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013 with a new video design by Ian William Galloway.

“The special-effects are stunningly conceived and realised -complementing the narrative but never intrusive except when they need to be. War is Hell, after all.” – the Edinburgh Reporter

While the show previously featured scene locations shown on a bank of monitors, this was expanded greatly in the 2013 design. Text was avoided if at all possible, allowing the audience to recognise the locations though simple images, views from windows and, most strikingly, 30 fluttering US flags through all the brutal boot camp scenes.

“John E McGrath’s dizzying National Theatre of Wales production comes across like ‘Black Watch’ jacked up on acid and technology.” – TimeOut

In addition, the show was netcast and live mixed every night through a four camera rig, available to watch for free on the NTW site. The opening performance was hosted by the Huffington Post. Over 6,500 audience members watched the Bradley Manning live stream from 1,269 cities in 103 countries.

Client:
National Theatre Wales

Location:
Edinburgh Festival, Edinburgh, 2013

Services:
Video & Projection Design
Content Creation

Team:
Video Designer: Ian William Galloway

Production Credits:
Director: John E McGrath
Set and Costume Designer: Chloe Lamford
Lighting Designer: Natasha Chivers
Sound Designer: Mike Beer

Photos:
© NTW