‘Words don’t crack bones … Do they?” asks a character in Rabiah Hussain’s play about language and the power to harm it carries. It opens in a Whitehall office, as we learn that the prime minister has used an offensive word (we never discover which) and refuses to apologise. His Downing Street press team scrabble around frantically, looking up synonyms for “sorry”, suggesting the PM put on a smart suit and brush his hair (who could this nameless premier possibly be based upon?).
We return to this scenario but there are other slices of life in fast-changing scenes that explore everything from the ripples of his gaffe on smug, north London dinner-partying couples to apparently “impartial” radio presenters.
