MARK THOMAS CUCKOOED at the EDINBURGH FESTIVAL

This highly personal play deals with the tragic , sad and touching tale about how corporations destroy Humanity outward and in , based on the activists true experience campaigning for the anti-Arms trade organisation CAAT
In this  video he discusses the personal and social issues involved in the play.

This is a highly taut and polished one man play which brings all the intellectual , theatrical and stand-up comic skills of Thomas to create a genuine powerful drama of both Human and Social scale.



The production was the winner of this years Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award.

'Mark Thomas richly deserved the 2014 Freedom of Expression Award for Cuckooed. This should be compulsory viewing for everyone in the UK. The timely and very important issues include the erosion of our rights to privacy, and democratic activism without interference from the state, but ultimately it was about freedom of expression, which is the reason we created this award.'
Siobhan Reardon, Amnesty International's Scotland Programme Director"

This review from The Guardian gives a good overview of the production.

"For years, Martin appeared to work tirelessly for Campaign Against Arms Trade. He was warm, funny and apparently loyal. He was a good friend, turning up at the police station after Thomas's first arrest for activism. He was so loved that he was asked to be godparent to one activist's child. But he was being paid to spy on the group by BAE Systems, Britain's largest arms manufacturer. Who could ever have imagined it? This was a man who put a custard pie in the face of the former BAE head honcho, Richard Evans. A spy wouldn't do that, would he?
Part of the power of this neatly crafted one-man show is the way it exposes how easily we believe and how hard it is to accept that we have been duped. How without trust everything breaks down: friendships, partnerships, even our relationship with the state. Particularly our relationship with the state, in fact. If it turns out they are spying on us, why should we ever trust anything they say?"