"They show us porno films and tell us doing it to women is good for morale and they bring women in and then after the war is over they tell us what we did is a crime. After it’s over you find out there were rules. Like no raping women."

A young soldier obeys his superiors only to find that at the end of the war, he is guilty of war crimes "everyone was doing". He is "rescued" by a woman from the enemy side who suspects that he knows the whereabouts of her missing daughter. Can she forgive him? Can he be sorry? A searing and timely examination of the aftermath of war.

The Monument receives its UK premiere at the Finborough Theatre. It was the Winner of Canada’s most prestigious literary award - the Governor General’s Award for Drama.

Director Helen Eastman’s previous productions have been seen at the Citizens, Glasgow, Edinburgh Pleasance, Union Theatre, The White Bear, BAC and for Old Vic New Voices.

The Blue Orange Theatre Company was founded by Marella Oppenheim in 1998 to promote international contemporary playwrights. Previous productions have included The History of Pandas…, Are We There Yet? and Bones of Contention.

The Press on The Monument
***** What's On in London Five Stars
“What a waste it would be to miss the dramatic experience which this piece delivers. Its harrowing all right but also does much more. Colleen Wagners tough, terse blackly humorous script managing to reveal things about the psychology of war. What prevents such bleak subject matter from becoming unwatchable is Wagners determination to see things from every viewpoint - including that of an ignorant boy soldier caught in a culture of barrack-room barbarity. Equally impressive are the performances: Tom Burkes monstrously human yob soldier whose inchoate emotions pass over this face like a babys; Marella Oppenheims grief-hardened matron with a secret core of pity. Wagner allows both protagonists to become increasingly complex as events take a truly grisly turn. Questions about how far any of us would dehumanise the enemy (and ourselves) in wartime are unavoidable in this power-packed 80 minute shocker. Deserving of a longer run and a wider audience, this is extraordinary stuff.” Helen Chappell, What's On in London

“Sensitive direction. Committed, fearless and totally honest performances.”
Jason Best, The Stage

“A provocative experience. You leave the auditorium with a knot in the gut, and damp earth in your nostrils.” Kieron Quirke, Time Out.

“The Monument is a powerful, disturbing story. The stage area consists of a kind of large raised sand pit filled with earth rather than sand, which lends a terrible reality and immediacy to the proceedings. Tom Burke gives an intense performance as the young, brash, callous squaddie Stetko. Marella Oppenheim plays the tormented Mejra vividly and with great presence. The audience is left emotionally drained at the and of the final wrenching scene, but we are also given an upbeat hint of closure and moving on.” Julia Hickman, Theatreworld Internet Magazine