As part of her ongoing post-show talk series, Mates co-founder Terri Paddock talks to the writer/director and cast of new political drama For the Sake of Argument at London’s Bridewell Theatre. Got any questions?
How much responsibility should journalists take for the words they write? Are we all ‘citizen journalists’ now? How much responsibility should we take for the information we share and the arguments we make online?
In world premiere drama For the Sake of Argument, written and directed by Harry Darell, Eleanor Hickock is a passionate and argumentative polemical journalist who becomes the Iraq War’s chief evangelist. For her, conversations are a battleground and words are tools for manipulation.
Eleanor’s stance on the US-UK led 2003 invasion to oust Saddam Hussein persuades one young reader, Mark, to enlist. When Mark’s mother seeks out the journalist who convinced her son to die for his country, sparks fly and violent confrontations ensue. Eleanor is faced with a family in mourning and is asked to answer for it.
This hard-hitting new play interrogates the power and danger of language. In our world of clickbait and instantaneous reaction on social media, people formulate entire beliefs based on 240 characters and the headlines of pieces they’ve barely read. This play looks to promote the value of compassion and understanding, highlighting the dangers of flippantly taking radical positions on important issues. It encourages patience rather than a knee-jerk reaction.
In For the Sake of Argument, Ashleigh Cole stars as Eleanor Hickock alongside Georgie Farmer, Greg Snowden, Paula Cassina, Ella May, Arthur Velarde, Harry Eaton-Mercer, Lucia France, Matt Weyland and Harry Farmer.
Terri Paddock founded WhatsOnStage.com and the WhatsOnStage Awards, running the company and its events from 1996 to 2013. Terri is also the author of two novels, Come Clean and Beware the Dwarfs, and has previously written for the Evening Standard, Independent, The Times and other national publications. She is renowned for her 'legendary' post-show Q&As and also produces the annual Critics' Circle Theatre Awards and acts as a digital, content strategy and event consultant for theatre, producers and other clients. She tweets about theatre at @TerriPaddock.
