Dark new comedy Little Platoons takes the pulse of Coalition Britain by exploring what the retreat of the state and the growth of people power might actually mean. Moving from satiric comedy to poignant family drama, it asks why we are all so obsessed with education and what happens when we get what we wish for.

In Little Platoons, a group of West London parents are driven by desperation to take the new government up on their offer and start their own ‘free school’. They want to create an education that their children will enjoy rather than endure. But as they find their lives given over to a disturbing version of the Big Society, their fervour turns to panic.

Little Platoons writer Steve Waters’s previous work for the Bush theatre includes The Contingency Plan, which was shortlisted for 2009 John Whiting Award.

Little Platoons plays alongside The Knowledge at the Bush theatre as part of The School Season.