On With the Show

The Doha Players had their first meeting since the night of the bombing last night. They are an amateur theatre group, and are quite good. They have their own building, which unfortunately was the site of last week’s bombing. The rumor is that the bomber was present for the first half of the show, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, then he left at intermission and slammed a Landcruiser full of explosives into the building. The director, Jon Adams, a professor from the UK, was killed at the scene, and about a dozen others were injured, two seriously.

A collection is being taken up for his family. The Doha Players website is here, although I don’t think the part about the collection is up yet. Send them an e-mail if you want to give them financial or moral support. The mood of the Players was defiant, the show will go on. Jon’s widow said that that is what he would have wanted. They are looking for a new venue for their upcoming productions, and will restore/rebuild their theatre despite the danger.

Scotland Yard is assisting the Qataris, as well as French explosives experts, and others. The area is still cordoned off, and the investigation is still pending. No word on the type of explosives used, or whether or not the bomber had accomplices. They say that the building will be re-opened to the players tomorrow, and that reconstruction will begin as soon as is practical.

In some ways the story sounds as if this was a lone bomber, someone of the type who would go shoot up a McDonald's or something in America. But on the other hand, he had a car-bomb. That is no small thing to rig up. I find it hard to believe he did that himself. The force of the bomb was fairly weak considering, indicating perhaps "amateurs". It's all speculation so far.

Three cheers for British resilience!