John Geoffrion, Michael Miyazaki, and Nanna Ingvarson in Scena's 'Sink the Belgrano!'

If that sounds like a bit of a risky proposition, it is. In lesser hands, Belgrano runs the risk of devolving into aimless, childish mockery. But Scena’s lead trio fully commits to farce, reducing Thatcher and her ministers to cartoonish caricatures of self-absorbed ego-in-charge and sycophantic clingers on. They skewer both the figures their characters draw from, and the straws we grasp at to compartmentalize and justify cold, political decisions of war.

The absurd trio provides a perfect contrast for the nameless ensemble of the British working class. For the better part of the show, the ensemble provides a well wrought atmosphere. But as the inevitable sinking of the Argentine vessel draws near, they make palpable the hesitation of an arm of force that is no longer convinced, barely still willing. As the order comes to pull the trigger, cast member Doug Krehbel encapsulates all of that struggle—”They’re just blokes like us…It’s not the Second World War, it it?” The sailor’s pain and resentment is all the more authentic because his rulers are so artificial. The end reminds us that history will remember figure heads and their debates, but not even the names of the masses whose lives their decisions touch.

Of course, to enjoy any of this, you’ll have to put aside any loyalties you may have to Thatcher, and maybe even Ronald Reagan. Tickets here.