The Trainer is a play by David Wilson and Anne Aylor.
Description
The Trainer is a multi-media play set in a posh gym in the basement of a gentlemen’s club, punctuated with excerpts from the opera Manifest Destiny, news footage from Gaza and inane breakfast TV programmes. It delivers a darkly comical comment on the justice system, while at the same time highlighting the struggles taking place both in Gaza and in the UK and other Western countries to defend humanity from barbarism.
Synopsis
The play explores the love story between a British Jew, Josh, and his Palestinian fiancée Taghreed. Their story is interwoven with a predominantly fact-based account of the real-life bankruptcy of British composer Keith Burstein as told by the attendees of the gym in which Taghreed works.
Background
After Keith Burstein and Dic Edwards’ opera Manifest Destiny was performed at the 2005 Edinburgh Festival Fringe the London Evening Standard newspaper published a review which claimed that the opera glorified terrorism. Burstein subsequently took the newspaper to court on the grounds that this claim put him at risk under the terms of the Terrorism Acts of 2005 and 2006. The High Court found in his favour and granted him the right to take the case to a trial by jury. However, this decision was reversed in the Court of Appeal, which ordered Burstein to pay the legal costs of the London Evening Standard. In consequence, Burstein was bankrupted and the Official Receiver seized possession of all of his works. The court case and its aftermath inspired David Wilson and Anne Aylor to write The Trainer. The play covers a fictionalised version of the events of the trial, in parallel with a separate plot strand similar to one used in Manifest Destiny.
Performance history
The Trainer premiered at Oxford House, London, in March 2009. Actors involved included Corin Redgrave, Tim Pigott-Smith and Lebanese-American actress Jana Zeineddine. Following rewrites, The Trainer was revived for the fundraising evening Two Plays For Gaza on May 21, 2009 at the Hackney Empire theatre in London, UK For this production, actors Janie Dee and Roger Lloyd-Pack joined the cast. Both productions were directed by Tom Platten.
