Inis Nua's 'The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning'

Tim Price's play about "the Wikileaks guy" premiered in April 2012, before Manning's 35-year sentence and her transition to Chelsea Manning. Inis Nua Theatre Company's artistic director, Tom Reing, suggests what occurred after Price's fictionalized version without changing the playwright's words.

Not What, But Why

Since we know at least the outline of the story — and if we don't, a lobby display provides a summary — we're watching not to learn what happened, but why. Price tells the story in short scenes, out of chronological order, with six young actors taking turns playing the title role (black-framed glasses identify him in each scene) and playing many other characters in Manning's life. Reing's production provides some of the actual video evidence Manning uncovered (video design by Janelle Kaufmann), as well as helpful time and place announcements, on the 11 screens on Meghan Jones' set.

Johnny Smith most often plays Manning, particularly as a Welsh high school student. Price is from Wales, and Inis Nua only produces plays from the United Kingdom, so that's their connection. Manning's mother took her there for a few years, where, according to the play, she experienced bullying but also soaked in lessons about Welsh uprisings against English rule from a socially conscious teacher (played by Isa St. Clair).

"As a government," schoolboy Manning learns, "you can't punish the idea, so you punish the man."

Forced Counterpoint

It all seems too convenient, though the theatrically imaginative and dynamically acted production physically and emotionally conveys Manning's slowly growing realization that he can, and should, leak military secrets. Trevor Fayle, David Glover, Campbell O'Hare, and David Pica, with St. Clair and Smith, transition between roles instantly and seamlessly. The actors wear camouflage uniforms, adding sweaters and shirts to quickly change characters (costumes by Katherine Fritz), and the rubble and high fencing of Jones' set convey war-torn Iraqi streets and military prison, so Manning's army experience defines ours. When he talks about shocking evidence of American military incompetence and worse, the video evidence plays behind him.

Manning's school lessons in rebellion converge neatly with the bullying he suffers from his homophobic father, co-workers at menial jobs, and, most violently and disturbingly, in our Army's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" era, even as he becomes a valued intelligence specialist with access to top-secret information.

Manning's repeated claims to help and serve the community, to "make the world a better place," feel like a forced counterpoint to the resentment and bitterness he feels, and the injustice of his brutal incarceration. That the army and bullies everywhere drove him to revenge is realized more successfully than his altruistic motives. The play seems to say that leaking the largest amount of classified documents in U.S. history was justified after so much suffering, but was still bad.

Part of the problem is where the play ends; Price doesn't consider the fallout from the leaks, or Manning's harsh prison sentence. The Radicalisation of Bradley Manning deals more with how Manning got to that point than what his actions caused or meant. Superb acting and dynamic staging can't change the feeling that we're only seeing part one of an epic tragedy.

Editor's Note: To avoid confusion, we have used a male pronoun when referring to the onstage character "Bradley Manning," but a female pronoun when referring to the real-life Chelsea Manning.

To read Henrik Eger's interview with Tim Price, click here.