"I think people are shocked at how much spying is going on..."
How do you follow up a show like 100 Acts of Minor Dissent, where Mark Thomas went out into the real corrupt world, performed political mischief, and then made it into a live performance which got real results in that real corrupt world?
"We had a right hoot" he understates, listing some of the successes "We're taking the Metropolitan Police to court, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to court; we're part of the court case against the construction blacklist...We got the Curzon Cinema workers trade union recognition and they became the first cinema chain workers to get the London living wage...
"We did this thing on Amazon, because they wouldn't provide subtitles for their online services" he adds, joyfully "We put this big `Love Film Hate Deaf People' poster over their head office, and that afternoon they changed their policy...We've had a few results. It's great fun to do..."
Brilliant. But how do you follow it up? You get the man who turned the tables on you, betrayed you and spied on you...And make him the centrepiece of a show called Cuckooed.
Back when Mark Thomas was involved with Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT) a bloke, who he calls Martin, was one of the leading lights, organising and taking part in protests and befriending the group's members. Later, it emerged that Britain's biggest arms manufacturer, BAE Systems, had spied on the group – the company admitted it in a court case in 2007, promising not to do it again. When CAAT audited its computers to try and find the spy, all the evidence pointed to Martin...
"They found that Martin's computer had been forwarding hundreds and hundreds of emails to an unknown third party, loads of internal emails and campaign materials" Mark explains "Then the Information Commissioner linked that email address with a company run by Evelyn Le Chene, named by BAE Systems as one of the people they hired to co-ordinate the spying, and who is linked to Martin."
There's more evidence too which makes Mark convinced and "certain" that the spy was Martin... "He's always publicly denied it – I think it's important my use of words there, he has always publicly denied it..."
For Cuckooed, the intrigue and disgustingness of it all has been turned into a show which Mark says is a "weird mixture of journalism, theatre and stand up".
"Obviously I love the show, I think it's fucking great, and there are some good laughs in it" he says "There's also some proper community stuff in there because I visited all the people who I knew at that time, and who knew Martin, and I chat to them on stage and interact with video footage to verify the truth of it."
When Cuckooed was first shown at Edinburgh it got top reviews, won the Scotsman Fringe First award and the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award, given to an outstanding Fringe production carrying a human rights message.
"I toured it after Edinburgh and it's been really exciting seeing people react to it" Mark says "In the first half I go on and fuck around and then tell them they're going to see a play in the second half and we kick it off...I think people are shocked at how much spying is going on..."
After Edward Snowden's revelations it's hard to be shocked about anything. But if anyone can shock with laugh out loud humour and societal truths it's Mark Thomas. This is the man, don't forget, who got some Indonesian general to admit to torture in one of the best pieces of television ever broadcast (see here)...
...And this is the man who stood outside Hazel Blears' house in Salford at the height of the expenses scandal with a `Tax Free Zone' banner in front of the country's media...
Mark Thomas does ethical entertainment that just doesn't get on tv any more. It has to be seen live. And it's guaranteed to be real. Don't miss.
Cuckooed
Wednesday 25th February 8pm
The Lowry £19 (includes booking fee)
For booking details click here...
Main photo by Steve Ullathorne
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