Productions
Romeo Delta (original title Pugilist Specialist)
November 2006-February 2007
Tour of the Netherlands and Belgium
“'Either they love us, or they love to hate us. Either way, we're spreading love.“ Colonel Johns, Pugilist Specialist
The Dutch translation of Adriano Shaplin's hit play Pugilist Specialist, about four highly-trained Marines on a mission to eliminate 'Big Stache' in an unspecified Middle Eastern country.
The play was presented in theatres and schools with a simple set of four chairs, a flag and a reel-to-reel tape machine. A satire on the motivations and objectives of the American military machine, the piece was presented at breakneck speed, with the text delivered like a hail of bullets. Words are used as weapons by the characters to force out a powerful position within the group and the search for a sacrificial victim becomes more important than the the target himself.
The acting company were trained by a drill sergeant and a Special Forces lieutenant from the Dutch Army, to create the right military ethic and way of thinking.
The action was played out in a tight military choreography within a space marked out as if a theatrical parade ground. It was Ben's third production for Muztheater and marked a further step in the increasing politicisation of his work.