Summary

A synopsis by Bianka Vidonja Balanzategui

Oliver in Aden was clearly designed to be a radio play though the sights and scenes encountered by Oliver North lend themselves to a short cinematic representation. This play cannot be identified as purely surrealistic, in fact it is brutally realistic despite the use of the disembodied voice of 'Comfort'. The play does though, employ repetitive language, patterned to stress tensions and conflicts similar to The Paul Davis Affair. The play is set on the ship the Fairsky and in the port of Aden. The ship is on its way to Australia. This is the most confronting of Naish's plays and the tragic ending with Oliver North's murder, genuinely moving. Of Naish's fictional characters North resembles him the most from being a £10 Pom, the sense of failing to live up to parent's expectations, to a tank accident that resulted in burnt legs, to unfulfilled ambitions and ultimately death. It is impossible not to feel sympathy for Oliver North's predicament as he observes the poverty and child exploitation in the streets of Aden and his feeling of helplessness and disorientation.