Synopsis

Colin and Mark had a close and loving relationship at school but they go their separate ways, and don't meet again until middle age. By this time, Mark has become a Junior Minister in the Coalition Government, pushed on by his domineering wife, Susan. Colin runs the social care services in his home town, and is in a relationship with Alex. A child has died in care and Colin is struggling to deal with the fallout from the tragedy. Mark is sent to the area to present the Government's case for cuts in spending on support for vulnerable people - the last thing Colin wants to hear.

They are now on opposite sides - enemies, in fact - and confront each other, challenging each other to face the facts, listen to their conscience, do the 'right thing' ... while around them, the dead child's mother is almost an incidental figure.

'The Truth Untold' takes its title and its theme from a Wilfred Owen war poem, 'Strange Meeting', in which soldiers from opposite sides of the war meet in Hell and find they actually have a lot in common.

The story is told with the use of flashback, and we see Colin and Mark as adults and as schoolboys, leading up to the moment they face each other at the conference, and finally face the truth about themselves. Along the way, we experience the child's funeral, the cynicism of the press, and explore Colin and Mark's current relationships - set against the flashbacks that remind us of just how close they once were. As the play ends, we see them apparently walking out of their relationships. But are they going their separate ways again, or getting back together?

Duration

Characters