Theatre: Osama the Hero - Hampstead

The title of Dennis Kelly’s play prompts a familiar reaction from a public not immune to the horrors of the so-called ‘war on terror’.
Ever since 9/11, fixed attitudes to terrorism have been etched into the public consciousness.
But Kelly’s title is misleading – it only superficially handles these familiar themes. Set against a small estate, the play paints a faded picture of the five desperate lives.
Each of the characters has had their garage vandalised and set on fire – except Mark. According to his neighbour, Francis, Mark is a paedophile who uses his garage for liaisons with his underage girlfriend Mandy.
When Mandy was young, her father told her that there had been a global nuclear war in 1989 that killed everyone on the planet. But it was such a massive shock that we didn’t realise we were dead, so we just carried on with our lives. The play draws out the cruel implications of such hopelessness being passed on to a young child.
Mark’s garage is finally set ablaze. And a prime suspect emerges – 17-year-old Gary, author of a school presentation entitled Osama the Hero.
Violently thrown together in the remnants of his garage, Mark, Francis, his sister Louise, Mandy and Gary enact a nightmarish reality.
Each character is engulfed in their despair but it was hard to fathom how they got there. There are a few teasing glimmers of insight, for example the moment Louise notices, while watching the taped execution of a hostage, that one of the kidnappers momentarily lifts his foot, an involuntary human gesture of surprise. The actors are convincing, but although their pain is evident it is also elusive. And the play as a whole is similarly frustrating.
020 7722 9301
Until June 11