Much Further Out Than You Thought

Giles Roberts was inspired to write this monologue after watching a documentary about a massacre that took place during the Vietnam war. Moved by the personal testimonies of the soldiers involved, his play transposes the action to Afghanistan and provides a harrowing account of a war’s effect not on a nation, but on an individual mind. 

After a tour of duty in Helmand Province, during which Lance Corporal James Randall was involved in a particularly distressing mission, he is now back in the UK and suffering deeply from PTSD. He delivers a monologue to an imaginary video camera, addressing his young son and recounting his life as a serviceman. 

Roberts speaks slowly and loudly. His voice and body shiver with nerves. He’s a man barely holding it together. His sad, hollow eyes speak volumes as he performs this act of confession, or therapy perhaps, an attempt to atone or at least put into words the unutterable. 

A living room—TV and armchair—is set on top of yellow Helmand sand. The props are all uncomfortable reminders of childhood, like an A-Team annual or a toy machine gun. It’s a stark juxtaposition. 

There’s an adrenaline-filled second section set in the war zone, and a devastating denouement. It’s a fierce piece of writing, and a sorry reminder that for many soldiers, changed by training, experience and then medication, their return home is not the end of the horror.