The war in Afghanistan isn't a new subject for theatre, but there's always new ways
of looking at something and that's what Owen Sheers' verse/dance piece
Pink
Mist does. John Retallack and George Mann's production comes to the Bush from
Bristol, where the play is also set, as three teenagers with dead-end prospects see
a way out in the army. Carrying the bulk of the script is narrator Arthur (Phil
Dunster,) who's the first one to sign up and persuades his two best friends to join
him: Taff (Peter Edwards) doesn't take much convincing but it's a harder sell for
the youngest of the trio, 17-year-old Hads (Alex Stedman.) They do both end up
joining Arthur in basic training though, and eventually on to Afghanistan, and the
fact that Arthur was the one who convinced them ends up haunting him as their
initial good luck sours, and a land mine sends Hads home with both his legs
amputated.
