There is a War

A miniature epic that explores the mad savagery of war with biting black comedy, and takes us into the dark heart of a strange and surreal conflict.

As soldiers, priests and scavengers roam a battle-scorched landscape, a young medical officer finds herself abandoned and useless, unable to locate the hospital or even the war she was promised.

Tom Basden's short play There is a War was first performed in a double bill with Prasanna Puwanarajah's Nightwatchman as part of the National Theatre's Double Feature season of paired short plays at the Paintframe, a specially converted space at the National Theatre, London, in July 2011.