Chilcot
Chilcot Written By Richard Norton-Taylor & Matt Woodhead
Commissioned by Battersea Arts Centre and The Lowry. Developed with the Support of the National Theatre Studio
‘The House of Commons is powerless. When you add secrecy and deceit, the system becomes positively dangerous. I’m still shocked that Britain could do what happened in Iraq.’
– Clare Short, Former International Development Secretary
On 20 March 2003, Tony Blair declared that Britain was at war. A nation collapsed, tens of thousands were killed and the Islamic State was born. Tasked with exploring Britain’s role in the Iraq war, the evidence presented to the Chilcot Inquiry was devastating and stark. Drawing together testimonies from leading players – ministers, military commanders, the heads of MI5 and MI6, top Whitehall legal advisers – with the forgotten voices of veterans, families who lost relatives and Iraqi refugees, this pertinent and bold piece of documentary theatre investigates the biggest foreign policy disaster in modern times, Britain’s role in the Middle East and the accountability of those