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Whilst I was perusing plays for upcoming production, I came across one that was too intriguing to ignore. David Davidson, after having worked in the security and surveillance industry for thirty years, had decided to uncover for us some of the secrets from that sector. Davidson’s script That Is Not Who I Am promised a terrifying tale about stolen identity and based on true events. I was taken aback by the courage of this individual to shine a light on a part of our society and global world that we are widely aware of but know scarily little about. Then came the reading. I began, ready to read about spectres, spies, and the terror of an individual as his life is incrementally stolen from him, whilst he experiences the immense existential crisis of coming to grips with whether he existed at all. What came next was entirely unexpected and thrilling, as I began reading it became clear very quickly that I had been deceived. The play I had sat down to read, did not in fact exist! The reason for this deception drew me into the script further, it was in fact to protect the identity of the author from censorship, and perhaps even greater peril as she exposed us to a story also based on true events - the assassination of the Quilters in the UK. I was literally caught in an intrigue storm; why had it been allowed to be published, how can this be real, how did they die - and why? I could not put it down. I believe this is the fastest and most voracious read of a play I have ever experienced. After the exhilaration of going on this journey, I simply had to tell someone, but, how do I? Except to say to them “you have to read this play”.   You see I have a firm disdain for anyone who robs others of an experience through spoilers. So I said to the team, I have found this play we have to mount, it’s called That Is Not Who I Am  and it starts with a blind date and then we discover that the play is about stolen identity and things are not as they seem, and in fact the play leaves us wondering what is real. We talk a bit more and Grace says, “This is the play I tried to tell you about ages ago called Rapture, but because of your rule about spoilers I couldn’t tell you too much more.” So in fact we had both come to the play from under different titles. Kirkwood spins a fantastic tale about weaving a web of lies masked in truths; using the platform of theatre, which is the perfect vehicle - a place where we tell ourselves to believe all that occurs in front of us, if only for the duration of house lights down to house lights up. Which parts were truths, which parts were lies, that’s now up to you.

CHRIS JACKSON