The Liar's Quartet

Book excerpt: Funny, provocative and moving, The Liar's Quartet includes the scripts with brand new commentary from Mark Thomas' most acclaimed comic, political theatre. 'There is a battle of narratives. The working-class narrative is being erased. And as you erase that narrative, you erase truths with it.' Layered with political insight (and insult), and peppered with anecdote, The Liar's Quartet is a bravura performance in its own right. Each multi-award winning show examines Thomas' obsession with the bonds that bind us, those of family, friends and communities. Beginning with Bravo Figaro!, Mark puts on an opera in his dying father's living room (with the help of Royal Opera House singers) to explore their relationship. In Cuckooed, he unpicks the betrayal of a friend and a fellow activist who was in fact employed to spy for the UK's biggest arms company, BAE systems. And in The Red Shed, Mark returns to his political roots to harness the power of collective memory and celebrate the importance of working-class struggles and narratives in a story he describes as 'a topical tale about the miners' strike'. Laughter, anger and connection. Mark Thomas is more essential than ever ...