Edinburgh 2022: 9 Circles Q&A

BWW catches up with Guy Masterson to chat about bringing 9 Circles to the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about 9 Circles.

9 Circles is a hard hitting one act play by Bill Cain based on the true story of Stephen Dale Green, a US Army private who went on a rampage in Iraq and committed war atrocities and was subsequently sentenced to execution back in the US.

Who is involved in the creative team?

Bill Cain (House Of Cards) wrote it. I directed it (my last big Edinburgh hit was The Shark Is Broken pre-lockdown 2019 which then transferred to the West End and was nominated for an Olivier Award). It stars Joshua Collins (who played the central role off Broadway in 2018; and Samara Neely Cohen who formed Collins Cohen Productions to create the British version of the play. Daniel Bowerbank recently graduated from RADA and Edfringe Favourite and multi-award winner, David Calvitto. On the production side, we have a phenomenal team with Duncan Henderson who designed The Shark Is Broken) Tom Turner (Lights - Scaramouche Jones), Jack Arnold (SFX & Original Music) and Eleanor Bull on Costumes.

Why did this feel like an important story to tell?

There is an eternal fascination with war stories because war presents the ultimate drama of life versus death wrapped up in a morality tale that pits the reasons behind the conflict, political, personally, morally and empathetically. No matter whether we actually go to war ourselves - as our parents might have - we all have a responsibility for it even if we are not actually involved in the political decisions behind it. 9 Circles places the conflict of morality against empathy in the audiences' path and forces us to look at war from the perspective of a soldier who is asked to do a job on our behalf but goes off the rails and commits an atrocity. Atrocities always happen in war.

Since Nuremberg, no-one can shirk responsibility using the excuse "I was just following orders!" A soldier of any rank is responsible for their moral choices. But, in the light of what is happening in Ukraine and the intstitutionalised criminality endemic in the Russian army, is it any wonder that soldiers with no education and no hope, expected to kill for their government or die in the process, are constantly crossing the line?

Of course, we are all appalled and wonder how these things can happen, but how much responsibility do we bear by allowing them to be selected to fight on our behalf in the first place. This play sets up those questions in an incredibly dramatic way.

Bill Cain is a Jesuit priest and he has set the play as a Dantesque descent through hell in the hope of finding self-understanding and thus redemption in the inferno... My production places this metaphor centrally with Lights and Sound and sends our Soldier on his quest... It is exciting, dramatic and powerful. All the things good theatre should be.

Who would you like to come and see it?

Anyone who can stomach a good theatrical challenge, but really, everyone should see it.

What would you like audiences to take away from it?

I want them to be conflicted by the questions it raises. I want them to be talking, even arguing, in the bar after the show. It is unflinching and unforgettable. I want them to say, "Bloody hell, that was tough, but my God, it was brilliant!" Literally!

Sponsored content

Photo credit: Mark Douet

To post a comment, you must register and login.