Outrage puts laughter on the back burner

Published on Sunday 13 August 2006 00:42

PETROL Jesus Nightmare #5. "You either know what it means or you don't," says Wick-born Henry Adam, best known for his hit comedy The People Next Door. "You either have nightmares about petrol Jesus or you don't."

He means the play is fuelled by his rage at a world governed by big business (Petrol) and fundamentalist religion (Jesus), a bad-dream combination that's wrenching apart the Middle East today.

"I was seriously going for laughs in The People Next Door, although it did have a serious side to it about what a war on terror does to ordinary people," says Adam. "Funnily enough, Petrol Jesus Nightmare #5 started out heading towards being a comedy, but it's been overwhelmed by the reality of what it's portraying.

"I regard this play as quite controversial myself. Although it's set in Jerusalem, I don't want to get into the Arab-Israeli thing because on a bigger level it's not what the play is about - it's a metaphor. Zealots start wars and soldiers have to fight them. It's a plea for common sense and enlightened values in the face of all these crazy religious people."

Set in a bombed-out flat in occupied territory, the play is about three Israeli soldiers who are joined by a Texan oil tycoon and a rabbi's widow, both of whom have vested interests in the war. Although it reaches some kind of redemption, it pulls no punches in its criticism of fundamentalist religion and a world order dictated by the values of consumerism.

At 42, Adam is making his mark as a not-so-young angry young man after spending many years writing for youth and community theatre in the north-east, while harbouring ambitions to be a novelist.

But his age is perhaps the biggest clue to the energy behind Petrol Jesus Nightmare #5. Leaving school and going straight on the dole, Adam is of a generation politicised by the ruthless economics of Thatcher's Britain. The son of a council truck driver and a tax office clerk, he saw no prospects in the declining Caithness fishing industry and little chance of work. Instead, he turned to the world of fanzines, music and cult literature.

"Nobody believes a 19-year-old kid when he says he's going to be a writer," he says. "I'm influenced so much more by music than theatre or film. For me, this play's all about Steve Earle and Bright Eyes - protest soul songs about living in a state of war."

• Petrol Jesus Nightmare #5 (in the Time of the Messiah), Traverse (0131-228 1404), until August 27 (not tomorrow), times vary