Philip Ralph’s play explores the four mysterious deaths at Deepcut Barracks in Surrey between 1995-2002. It focuses on the aftermath of the suicide of the lively and likeable Private Cheryl James from Llangollen who seems, at the age of 18, to have had everything going for her, but whose death, like those of the other three soldiers, was automatically assumed by the authorities to be suicide.
Combining interviews with Cheryl’s grief-stricken parents with official documentation, journalism and conversations with the other major players directly involved in the story (including a young female officer at the barracks at the same time as Cheryl) the production leaves little doubt that the investigations into the deaths were completely muddled.
The play has its flaws. I would have liked to see more descriptions of the general culture at Deepcut, which we are told by Private Jones was incredibly close to being out of control on a heady mix of drink, sex and violence. The play also suffers from several mixed performances; some acutely well realised, others painfully caricatured.
The problem of verbatim theatre is that it can only show what was actually recorded in the interviews, therefore from an audience's perspective this means a lot of the story is missing. We can never hear Cheryl’s voice or watch Private B explain himself.
Verbatim theatre can be honest and it can be harrowing in its honesty but it can be frustratingly incomplete. It also begs the question, ‘Is theatre the right medium for this story?’ In fact should this story even be performed? Personally I think it should, as the tragic events definitely need telling; they just need telling well.
The play undoubtedly persuades the audience that a great injustice took place, which is surely a good thing. While the play exists, the case cannot be closed. We can never know exactly how Cheryl James died. All we can do is remember that a young woman lost her life and surely this play is the best way of doing that.
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